The cold open for the UFC’s return to full capacity crowds has been released.
The promotion on Wednesday posted the opening video montage for UFC 261, which takes place Saturday at VyStar Veteran’s Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla., and airs live on ESPN+ pay-per-view.
The event quickly sold out with around 17,000 fans expected to be in attendance on Saturday. Narrated by actor Ron Perlman, the montage touts welterweight champion Kamaru Usman’s goal of dethroning Georges St-Pierre as the best at 170 pounds, Jorge Masvidal’s quest for revenge, Zhang Weili’s return from a “Fight of the Year,” Rose Namajunas’ return and Valentina Shevchenko’s mission to beat back another contender in Jessica Andrade.
The UFC’s tweet, “Greatness shows up in numbers” is a nod to the return of normalcy as the country begins to open up after more than a year of restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.