Nigeria’s Kamaru Usman beat Colby Covington by unanimous decision (48-47, 48-7, 49-46) to retain the UFC welterweight championship on Sunday.
Colby Covington attempted to become a UFC champion as he challenged Nigeria’s Kamaru Usman for the welterweight title on Sunday at UFC 268 for the second time.
Usman successfully defended his welterweight title as he defeated Covington the second time. Sunday’s rematch was held at UFC 268 at the Madison Square Garden in New York, US.
The rematch didn’t have the same torrid pace as the first meeting between the two in December 2019. That fight saw the men combine for more than 300 significant strikes landed before Usman scored a TKO late in the fifth round. This go-round, both men showed respect for the other man’s power, picking and choosing when to engage with strikes.
Covington even chose to mix wrestling into his attack, trying to give Usman different looks and concerns. Usman was perfect in his takedown defense coming into the fight, having defended 20 of 20 attempted takedowns in his UFC career. Covington still used the threat to open up new attacking lanes, even as Usman actually won the wrestling exchanges with Covington failing on all 11 of his takedown attempts.
Read Also: BREAKING: Ukrainian Usyk defeats Anthony Joshua, becomes new heavyweight boxing champion
The Nigerian Nightmare after the game declared himself as the best pound-for-pound fighter globally, and Covington as “the second-best guy” in the division.
Covington, who left the Madison Square Garden in New York on crutches after the UFC match 268 on Saturday night, on his part, admitted that Usman had a better fight.
 to retain the UFC welterweight championship on Sunday.){kind=link}