Kamaru Usman vs. Gilbert Burns live updates, results, highlights from UFC 258

Kamaru Usman will be aiming for a third successive defense of his welterweight title when he fights former teammate Gilbert Burns in the main event of UFC 258 on Saturday night at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

The card is the UFC’s second pay-per-view event of 2021, following Dustin Poirier’s stunning knockout of Conor McGregor at UFC 257 on Jan. 23.

Usman was set to face the No. 2-ranked Burns last July at UFC 251, but the Brazilian was pulled 10 days before the fight after contracting COVID-19. Usman’s rival Jorge Masvidal stepped in on short notice but was dominated by the Nigerian champion.

The former teammates at American Top Team both carry significant momentum into the fight.

Usman is riding a 16-fight winning streak and has yet to lose during his tenure in the UFC since winning “The Ultimate Fighter” in 2015. Burns has been on a roll since returning to the welterweight division in 2019. He has won four straight in dominant fashion, with victories over Tyron Woodley, Demian Maia, Gunnar Nelson and Alexey Kunchenko. But Usman is, by far, his stiffest test to date. 

Usman and Burns are familiar with each other as training partners, but nothing can simulate the feel of an actual fight with high stakes.

Will Usman extend his winning streak and begin chipping away at Georges St-Pierre’s status of being the greatest welterweight of all time? Or will Burns hand Usman his first loss and begin a new era in the 170-pound division?

Sporting News is tracking live fight updates and round-by-round highlights from Kamaru Usman vs. Gilbert Burns and the rest of the UFC 258 card. Follow below for complete results.

MORE: Save over 30% when you buy UFC 258 and an ESPN+ Annual Plan for only $89.98

Kamaru Usman vs. Gilbert Burns live updates, highlights from UFC 258

11:49 p.m.: Gastelum finds himself back on the winning track with a dominant performance against Heinisch to earn the unanimous decision. A combination of wrestling and striking put Gastelum back in the win column with scores of 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28. There wasn’t much that Heinsich could do to stop the takedowns and it spelled out his demise over the course of three rounds. 

11:28 p.m.: Kelvin Gastelum aims to end a three-fight skid when he faces Ian Heinisch next. Since getting his attempt at UFC gold in an interim fight against Israel Adesanya, Gastelum has lost three straight. He desperately needs to win here but Heinisch aims to shut down his opponent tonight and prove his worth as a middleweight contender.  

11:17 p.m.: Ricky Simon’s grappling and striking overwhelmed a game Kelleher throughout their three-round affair. Simon fought intelligently and neutralized his opponent’s striking to secure a unanimous decision victory. 

10:53 p.m.: Up next is a fight that was originally set to be on the UFC Fight Pass prelims but was bumped up after Bobby Green passed out before the weigh-in for his fight with Jim Miller. Brian Kelleher faces Ricky Simon in a featherweight showdown.

10:49 p.m.: A wild back and forth battle between Pitolo and Marquez ends with Julian Marquez sinking in a d’arce choke in the third round to submit Marquez. Pitolo was seemingly heading to victory in a fantastic middleweight fight. But the final round saw two extremely gassed out fighters give it their all. Unfortunately for Pitolo, Marquez had a little more as he sucked it up, fired a late salvo of strikes and managed to sink in the anaconda choke with just under a minute left in the fight. 

10:15 p.m.: We’re live with the main card of UFC 258. A middleweight showdown between Maki Pitolo and Julian Marquez kicks off the PPV.

9:51 p.m: Well, we shouldn’t doubt Hernandez after this performance. Viera seemingly had the fight in hand with a dominant first two minutes. But he was unable to get Hernandez out of there and saw his opponent reinvigorated. Hernandez survived the chain submission attempts and rocked Viera with strikes late in the round. With Viera completely exhausted, Fluffy Hernandez poured it on with a bevy of strikes before sinking in a guillotine for the submission in the second round.  

9:39 p.m.: To close out the UFC 258 prelims the undefeated Rodolfo Viera aims to keep his unbeaten MMA record intact against Anthony Hernandez in a middleweight showdown. 

9:33 p.m.: Muhammad’s pressure was simply too much for Lima to overcome in this one. Muhammad earned a one-sided unanimous decision with scores of 30-27 across the board. This will certainly see Muhammad climb the rankings and someone in the top 10 will get their name called for him next. 

9:09 p.m: We’re live on Sporting News with live coverage of UFC 258. Following Polyana Viana slick submission of Mallory Martin, we have an important welterweight showdown between Dhiego Lima and Belal Muhammad where the winner can move up in a wide-open 170-pound division with a sharp eye on tonight’s main event. 

UFC 258 start time

• Early prelims: 6:30 p.m. ET
• Prelims: 8 p.m. ET
• Main card: 10 p.m. ET
• Live stream: ESPN+

Usman vs. Burns will be the last of 11 fights at UFC 258. The main card — which includes four fights before the main event — is expected to start at 10 p.m. Usman and Burns likely won’t get to start their title bout until midnight ET or later.

How to watch Usman vs. Burns on PPV

• PPV price (current subscribers): $69.99
• ​PPV price (new subscribers with ESPN+ bundle): $89.98

The early prelims and preliminaries for UFC 258 are free to watch on ESPN+ for those who are already subscribed to the streaming service. The pay-per-view portion (i.e., the main card) can be purchased for $69.99.

New subscribers can pay a bundle price of $89.98, which includes the fight and an annual subscription to ESPN+.

Click here to learn about the different pricing and bundling options with the ESPN+ platform.

UFC 258 fight card results

Main card

• Kamaru Usman (c) vs. Gilbert Burns for Usman’s welterweight title
• Maycee Barber vs. Alexa Grasso; women’s flyweights 
• Kelvin Gastelum def. Ian Heinisch via unanimous decision 30-27, 29-28 & 29-28)
• Julian Marquez def. Maki Pitolo via 3rd round submission (4:17)  
• Ricky Simon def. Brian Kelleher via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27 & 30-27)

Preliminary card

• Anthony Hernandez def. Rodolfo Viera via 2nd round submission (1:53) 
• Belal Muhammad def. Dhiego Lima via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27 & 20-27) 
• Polyana Viana def. Mallory Martin via 1st round submission (3:18)
• Chris Gutierrez def. Andre Ewell via unanimous decision (30-26, 29-28 & 29-27)

Early prelims

• Gabriel Green def. Philip Rowe via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28 & 29-28) 
• Gillian Robertson vs. Miranda Maverick; women’s flyweights