It was a strange and disappointing end to Jim Crute’s night.
The Aussie was defeated by former title challenger Anthony Smith due to a doctor stoppage after round one. Reminiscent of Michael Chandler in his loss to Brent Primus in 2017, a low kick to Crute’s left leg appeared to shut off his ability to use and put weight on it. Crute fell to the canvas, where he made the best of a terrible situation and even managed to land some ground and pound before the round’s end. Crute was eager to keep fighting, but the doctor had seen enough with Crute not able to stand on the leg and called the fight off.
“He was jabbing my face off way too much. I was letting him off way too much,” Crute said in the post-fight interview. “And then I couldn’t feel my leg. In the second round, I was just gonna come out and pull guard because I couldn’t stand on it.”
“I just wanted to say, back home in Australia, it’s Anzac Day, which would be the equivalent to Veteran’s Day here, so I just wanna give a massive shoutout. What we do here would not be possible if not for the fallen troops. I might’ve lost today, but they lost their lives back then.”
It's all over.@LionheartASmith gets the win after Jimmy's leg gives out on him #UFC261 pic.twitter.com/EKUfQM7CoS
— UFC_AUSNZ (@UFC_AUSNZ) April 25, 2021
In an even more bizarre twist, in the fight following, former middleweight champion Chris Weidman’s leg broke 17 seconds into the fight against Uriah Hall from a low leg kick. Stranger still considering Anderson Silva broke his leg in similar fashion when fighting Chris Weidman for the title in 2013.
UFC 261: Usman vs. Masvidal 2 was held at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida, on Sunday, April 25. See full results for the main and preliminary cards below.
Main Card (UFC Pay-Per-View) – 12pm AEST:
- Kamaru Usman (c) def. Jorge Masvidal via KO (Punch), Rd 2, 1:02 – welterweight title
- Rose Namajunas def. Zhang Weili (c) via KO (Head Kick), Rd 1, 1:18 – strawweight title
- Valentina Shevchenko (c) def. Jessica Andrade via TKO (Punches), Rd 2, 3:19 – women’s flyweight title
- Uriah Hall def. Chris Weidman via TKO (Leg Injury), Rd 1, 0:17
- Anthony Smith def. Jim Crute via TKO (Doctor Stoppage), Rd 1, 5:00
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass) – 8am AEST:
- Randy Brown def. Alex Oliveira via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Rd 1, 2:50
- Dwight Grant def. Stefan Sekulić via Decision (Split)
- Brendan Allen def. Karl Roberson via Submission (Heel Hook), Rd 1, 4:55
- Patrick Sabatini def. Tristan Connelly via Decision (Unanimous)
Early Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass) – 5:45am AEST:
- Danaa Batgerel def. Kevin Natividad via TKO (Punches), Rd 1, 0:50
- Rodrigo Vargas def. Rong Zhu via Decision (Unanimous)
- Jeff Molina def. Qileng Aori via Decision (Unanimous)
- Ariane Carnelossi def. Na Liang via TKO (Punches), Rd 2, 1:28
