Dana White Praises 'Massive Star' Jorge Masvidal After 1.3M UFC 251 PPV Buys

Kamaru Usman defended his welterweight crown with a unanimous-decision win (50-45, 50-45, 49-46) over Jorge Masvidal on Saturday at UFC 251 from Flash Forum at UFC's "Fight Island" in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, but UFC president Dana White acknowledged Masvidal played a major role in the pay-per-view's impressive numbers. 

Damon Martin of MMA Fighting noted the card sold approximately 1.3 million pay-per-views and shared White's comments:

"I said it to you guys the other night, when you put on a fight, a successful promotion of an event, it's a big melting pot of different things. 'Fight Island' was a massive star in this thing. Masvidal is a massive star. Obviously, Usman, the champion and a guy that we're all starting to realize is tough to beat and a great card underneath.

"It all came together perfectly. It was a major success. Everybody's healthy. It's all good. Literally not one negative thing that I could point out."

Masvidal was only included in the bout after he accepted the invitation on six days' notice when Gilbert Burns withdrew following a failed COVID-19 test. 

He lost to Usman but was impressive enough in defeat under trying circumstances for White to say "Yeah, he's a big star" when asked if Masvidal is someone who can sell future pay-per-views.

Masvidal thrived during a breakout year in 2019 with three straight knockouts of Darren Till, Ben Askren and Nate Diaz.

Still, Usman was too much in a second successful title defense. Usman also defeated Colby Covington by fifth-round TKO at UFC 245 after winning his belt against Tyron Woodley at UFC 235.