UFC pound for pound Champion, Kamaru Usman has retained his welterweight title with a unanimous decision win against his challenger, Colby Covington at Madison Square garden in New York.
The ‘Nigerian nightmare’ as Usman is fondly called has now defeated Covington twice as the duo also fought in December 2o19.
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The rematch didn’t have the same torrid pace as the first meeting between the two but both men showed respect for the other man’s power, picking and choosing when to engage with strikes.
The biggest moment of the fight came in the second round when Usman dropped Covington twice with right hands near the end of the round.
Despite having clearly been hurt, Covington came out and continued to be dangerous with effective body kicks and combination punching that kept Usman from unloading.
Still, Usman had done enough after five rounds to earn the nod on the judges’ scorecards, winning by scores of 48-47, 48-47 and 49-46.
UFC 268 card and results
Kamaru Usman (c) def. Colby Covington (48-47, 48-47, 49-46)
Rose Namajunas (c) def. Weili Zhang via split decision (48-47, 47-48, 49-46)
Marlon Vera def. Frankie Edgar via third-round knockout (kick, punches)
Shane Burgos def. Billy Quarantillo via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Justin Gaethje def. Michael Chandler via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Alex Pereira def. Andreas Michailids via second-round knockout (knee)
Bobby Green def. Al Iaquinta via first-round TKO (punches)
Chris Curtis def. Phil Hawes via first-round TKO (strikes)
Nassourdine Imavov def. Edmen Shahbazyan via second-round TKO (punches, elbows)
Ian Garry def. Jordan Williams via first-round knockout (punches)
Chris Barnett def. Gian Villante via second-round TKO (kick, punches)
Dustin Jacoby def. John Allan via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Melsik Baghdasaryan def. Bruno Souza via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Ode Osbourne def. CJ Vergara via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).
Credit: CBSSPORTS.COM
