UFC is back in full swing, and it will start with UFC 261 in a full fan capacity setting. UFC president Dana White had vowed that the MMA promotion will not return to live crowds during the pandemic. White wanted there to be full fan capacity allowed for a live event in order for UFC to return.

White finally got his wish and UFC 261 will be held at Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida, on April 24. The event will have a full crowd meaning fans will be allowed at full capacity for the event.

UFC 261 main events will be the rematch of welterweight champion Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal. The two had previously fought in UFC 251 and at that time it was Usman who came out with an easy victory. In that bout, Usman easily nullified Masvidal’s offense. Now Masvidal has a chance to try again and we’ll see if he has learned from his mistakes. Usman is currently the favorite to win.

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Women’s Strawweight Title: Weili Zhang (c) vs Rose Namajunas

The card will feature current Women’s Strawweight champion Zhang battle Namajunas for the title. Zhang is currently on a 21-win streak and is the favorite to win. Zhang effortlessly captured the title by beating Jessica Andrade in just 42 seconds to win the title. Zhang then won her first title defense in UFC 248 against Joanna Jedrzejczyk, which was decided in a split decision favor for Zhang.

Namajuanas is a former strawweight champion herself. She had won the title from Jedrzejczyk in 2017. Namajuanas will look to win back the title and will face her biggest challenge yet.

Women’s Flyweight Title: Valentina Shevchenko (c) vs Jessica Andrade

Defending champion Shevchenko will be the favorite to win this bout. The champion already has four dominant wins when defending her title. Yet, Andrade is no slouch herself as she is a former Strawweight champion.

UFC 261 Fight Card:

• Kamaru Usman (c) -400 vs. Jorge Masvidal +310, Welterweight Championship
• Weili Zhang (c) -195 vs. Rose Namajunas +165, Women’s Strawweight Championship
• Valentina Shevchenko (c) -400 vs. Jessica Andrade +310, Women’s Flyweight Championship
• Uriah Hall -110 vs. Chris Weidman -110, Middleweight
• Jimmy Crute -195 vs. Anthony Smith +165, Light Heavyweight
• Randy Brown vs. Alex Oliveira, Welterweight
• Brendan Allen -135 vs. Karl Roberson +115, Middleweight
• Danaa Batgerel -150 vs. Kevin Natividad +125, Bantamweight
• Qileng Aori -125 vs. Jeffrey Molina +105, Flyweight
• Jamey Simmons vs. Johnny Munoz, Bantamweights
• Rong Zhu -240 vs. Kazula Vargas +200, Lightweight
• Dwight Grant vs. Stefan Sekulic, Welterweight
• Ariane Carnelossi -150 vs. Na Liang +125, Women’s Strawweight

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The one sport that has been trying to continue to put on events for their fans despite everyone being in quarantine and can’t attend sporting events has been the UFC. Wednesday night was not exception. 

On Wednesday in Jacksonville, Florida the main event was fought between Glover Teixeira and Anthony Smith. In the end, it was Teixeira winning his fourth straight fight, this one by knockout in the fifth round. Despite the win, there was some controversy with the fight. Not so much with Teixeira winning, but many other fighters and analysts felt that the fight should have been called sooner than round five.

Daniel Cormier, who was working the fight as a ringside analyst as well as an accomplished UFC in his own right, took to Twitter following the fight, expressing his feelings regarding the fight being called sooner than it was.

The majority of people were calling for Smith’s corner to try and stop the fight sooner to protect their guy from getting beat up more than he did. Despite this, Smith following the fight says that he had no issues regarding how long the fight went. “I’m good with the decisions the referee and my corner made. When the ref made it clear he needed to see something or he was gonna stop it, I did what I had to do to stay in the fight. I come out of battle with my shield or I come out on it. That’s my rule. Period.”

Circling back to Teixeira, the 40-year old is one a four-fight win streak, which has some people asking the question as to whether or not Teixeira can make another run at the light heavyweight title. When asked the question, ESPN’s UFC Analysts Marc Raimondi said that it is definitely in the cards for Teixeira. “He can and is. Smith is an elite light heavyweight; he just went five rounds with champion Jon Jones last year. Teixeira finished him Wednesday night. Now, Teixeira is still looking up at Dominick Reyes and Jan Blachowicz in the light heavyweight pecking order. I’d love to see Teixeira welcome back Thiago Santos off Santos’ injury in a contender bout. Santos looked great against Jones last year. Let’s see if Teixeira can get by his fellow Brazilian. If he does, there’s an outside chance Teixeira could be looking at a title shot for the first time since 2014.”

Overall, it was a great night of fights, and fans should be excited for what is to come from the UFC.

On Sunday morning, a man unlawfully entered the Nebraska home of UFC fighter Anthony Smith. 

The man charged with a first-degree criminal trespass is Luke Haberman. His charge is considered a misdemeanor. Smith said in an interview with ESPN on Monday that he woke up just after 4 a.m. local time Sunday to a stranger in his Omaha-area home. The UFC light heavyweight said he tried to subdue Haberman for more than five minutes while waiting for police to arrive. According to Smith, Haberman did not steal anything and it was still unclear why he was in the house. However, he and his family – his wife, mother-in-law and three daughters – were not hurt during the break-in.

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Smith said his wife woke him and told him there was a man in the house. Smith said he could hear a “man’s voice screaming at the top of his lungs.” Smith left the bedroom, turned a corner and saw Haberman in a computer room. Smith said Haberman walked toward him and it seemed as if he was trying to scare him. Smith was concerned the man had a weapon. Smith said he tried to take him down and the two began fighting.

“I didn’t know what he had,” Smith said. “Typically people don’t break into your house in the middle of the night for any good reasons. I’m expecting that I’m gonna hear a gunshot or he’s gonna stab me. Like he’s got something. I figure I’ve got about two minutes before whatever he’s got takes me out.”

Smith fights at 205 pounds. The intruder weighed around 170 pounds.

“No normal human is able to fight like that,” Smith said. “I’m by no means the baddest dude on the planet. But he’s a regular Joe and I had a hard time dealing with him. And he took everything that I gave him – every punch, every knee, every elbow. He took every single one of them and kept fighting me.”

When the police arrived, officers were able to subdue Haberman, Smith said. He said there was blood all over the computer room and Haberman was cut and had swelling on his face. Haberman was issued a citation and released to the hospital. He was not taken into police custody but must report to court at a later date.

According to Smith, Haberman told him, “Hey man, I’m sorry” as he walked by after things calmed down.

“You always just think you’re such a badass,” Smith said. “I just don’t feel like one. I feel … insufficient a little bit. I didn’t know it was possible to be that terrified.”

Smith is scheduled to fight Glover Teixeira in the main event of UFC Lincoln on April 25 in Nebraska. The event is likely to be moved to another location due to the coronavirus pandemic. Smith said he would still compete despite the break-in Sunday morning.