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MMA Twitter was hyped to have fans back at UFC 261. The UFC 261 event witnessed the return of a full-capacity crowd for the very first time since the COVID-19 pandemic gripped the US.
About 15,000 fans are in attendance at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida for UFC 261 (April 24th, 2021).
Needless to say, the MMA community and combat sports world as a whole were hyped for the return of fans to the arena for a live event. Fans and experts of the fight game took to Twitter to express their excitement about fans returning to watch a UFC event in person. Below are a few tweets from fans, fighters, and MMA personalities indicating how hyped they are to have the fans back at UFC 261.
MMA Twitter reactions to having fans return at UFC 261:
The UFC 261 fight card was one of the most anticipated ones of the 2021 calendar year. As of this writing, UFC 261 is still underway, with multiple fights already having lived up to the fans’ expectations.
The fight card headliner is a rematch one year in the making. It will see UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman put his title on the line against Jorge Masvidal. Usman had bested Masvidal via unanimous decision at UFC 251 (July 2020). However, Masvidal took that fight on just six days’ notice, which is why many believe he could surely put on a much better performance this time around.
Meanwhile, the co-main event of the evening features UFC women’s strawweight champion Zhang Weili putting her title on the line against former UFC women’s strawweight champion Rose Namajunas.
The third title fight at UFC 261 will witness UFC women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko putting her title on the line against former UFC women’s strawweight champion Jessica Andrade.
Furthermore, a middleweight bout between former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman and perennial middleweight contender Uriah Hall will also take place on the main card.
These fights will be preceded by the UFC 261 main card opener – a light heavyweight matchup between veteran fighter Anthony Smith and rising Australian prospect Jimmy Crute.
With the preliminary portions of the UFC 261 event still underway, the MMA world’s excitement for the fight card is seemingly reaching a crescendo.
UFC president Dana White, as well as many of the UFC fighters and other MMA personalities, had predicted that the return of fans to the arena would provide a different level of energy to the event. And as evident by MMA Twitter’s response to UFC 261, it’s safe to say their prediction was spot-on.
