UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman believes he is currently the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport after his stunning title defence against Jorge Masvidal at UFC 261 in Florida on Sunday morning.
The Nigerian athlete, who prevailed on points in the pair's first meeting in Abu Dhabi last summer, ended any suspicions about his superiority over Masvidal, knocking out his rival with a thudding right hand one minute into the second round.
The event, which took place in front of more than 15,000 fans at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, marked the first time the UFC had staged a show in front of a capacity crowd since March last year.
The victory, Usman’s fourth successful title defence, lifted his win streak to 18 fights, extending his unbeaten record in the UFC to 14. Only Anderson Silva has more consecutive victories, at 16. At present, Usman sits second on the UFC’s men’s pound-for-pound list, behind Jon Jones.
Speaking at the post-event press conference, the champion said he is open to a rematch against Colby Covington next. Usman defeated his old adversary by fifth-round TKO in December 2019.
"With my fundamentals, I am the pound-for-pound best fighter on the planet right now," Usman said. “Sky is the limit. I’m growing so much in the sport. I’m just blessed to be at this present time and moment.
"It was a sweet one, it’s up there. If you look at the knockouts now that I’m putting together, that one’s up there for sure. That’s what I wanted to do. I said I’m so far ahead of these guys, I’m coming around and lapping these guys on the track, I’m coming around with a vengeance and I had to go out there and put the nails in that coffin and I did and we turn the page and move forward.
“Now I’m satisfied. They said they wanted violence out here in Jacksonville, Florida and I went out there and gave it to them.”
UFC president Dana White had earlier said Usman is "one of the best ever, and he's on his way to probably being the greatest of all time".
White added: “When you go in and you beat the guys who are looked at as the best in the world at that time and you beat them twice and you beat them convincingly, it's all part of cementing that legacy that this guy is going to have some day.”
The loss was the first time Masvidal had been knocked out in 50 professional bouts. The American, who took the previous fight in Abu Dhabi on six days’ notice, was gracious in defeat, saying: "He's got my number, man."
Elsewhere on the card, Rose Namajunas defeated strawweight champion Weili Zhang with a stunning head-kick knockout in the opening round to regain the belt she lost to Jessica Andrade in 2019 – becoming the first female to reclaim a crown in UFC history. It brought to a halt Zhang’s 20-fight unbeaten streak.
In the event’s other championship bout, flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko cemented her lofty status by seeing off Andrade, the No 1-ranked contender, by second-round TKO. It was Shevchenko’s fifth title defence.
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Other ways to buy used products in the UAE
UAE insurance firm Al Wathba National Insurance Company (AWNIC) last year launched an e-commerce website with a facility enabling users to buy car wrecks.
Bidders and potential buyers register on the online salvage car auction portal to view vehicles, review condition reports, or arrange physical surveys, and then start bidding for motors they plan to restore or harvest for parts.
Physical salvage car auctions are a common method for insurers around the world to move on heavily damaged vehicles, but AWNIC is one of the few UAE insurers to offer such services online.
For cars and less sizeable items such as bicycles and furniture, Dubizzle is arguably the best-known marketplace for pre-loved.
Founded in 2005, in recent years it has been joined by a plethora of Facebook community pages for shifting used goods, including Abu Dhabi Marketplace, Flea Market UAE and Arabian Ranches Souq Market while sites such as The Luxury Closet and Riot deal largely in second-hand fashion.
At the high-end of the pre-used spectrum, resellers such as Timepiece360.ae, WatchBox Middle East and Watches Market Dubai deal in authenticated second-hand luxury timepieces from brands such as Rolex, Hublot and Tag Heuer, with a warranty.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
ABU DHABI ORDER OF PLAY
Starting at 10am:
Daria Kasatkina v Qiang Wang
Veronika Kudermetova v Annet Kontaveit (10)
Maria Sakkari (9) v Anastasia Potapova
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova v Ons Jabeur (15)
Donna Vekic (16) v Bernarda Pera
Ekaterina Alexandrova v Zarina Diyas
RESULT
Bayern Munich 0 AC Milan 4
Milan: Kessie (14'), Cutrone (25', 43'), Calhanoglu (85')
