Usman-Masvidal 2 headlines full-capacity UFC 261 event in Florida

UFC 261 is set to be a massive event.

The April 24 card will feature three title fights and the first full crowd in more than a calendar year, UFC president Dana White announced Monday.

Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal will meet in a welterweight title rematch, women's flyweight titleholder Valentina Shevchenko will defend her belt versus Jessica Andrade, and Zhang Weili will go toe-to-toe with Rose Namajunas for the women's strawweight championship in front of what will likely be an at-capacity crowd at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville.

The promotion hasn't hosted a live event in front of a full audience since UFC 248 on March 7, 2020. The UFC held the following event in Brazil on March 14 with an empty arena, and subsequent cards were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In the year since, the promotion has held fights in Jacksonville, at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, and in Abu Dhabi to either empty or limited crowds.

Usman will return to the Octagon just over two months after defending the welterweight title with a TKO victory over Gilbert Burns at UFC 258 in February.

Usman and Masvidal met previously at UFC 251 last July, and the "Nigerian Nightmare" was victorious by unanimous decision. However, Masvidal took the fight on six days' notice after Burns dropped out due to a positive COVID-19 test.

After Usman's most recent victory, he called out Masvidal and vowed to finish him within five rounds.

"Bullet" Shevchenko will return to defend her flyweight title and put a seven-fight win streak on the line. Andrade, a former strawweight champion, will be making her second consecutive appearance at flyweight. She suffered two consecutive defeats after capturing the strawweight belt and defeated flyweight Katlyn Chookagian in October.

Zhang will also be taking on a former strawweight champion when she meets Namajunas, making it the second title defense for the UFC's first Chinese champion.

Namajunas dropped the belt to Andrade in May 2019 and won the rematch at UFC 251 in July 2020, but the title was not on the line for the second contest.