Picture Credit: Twitter
Safe to say Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington had enough bad blood between them to make their rivalry one of the biggest ever witnessed in the Welterweight division. Having already won once, the reigning Welterweight champion was derived as the favorite to retain his title before the mega clash in Madison Square Garden, New York. On the other hand, contender number 1, Colby Covington is known to be a fierce and competitive challenger there has ever been in the octagon.
The duo has previously locked horns inside the octagon at UFC 245 in December 2019 with the Nigerian Nightmare winning via fifth round knockout against Covington. Yet even the fight, this time around did not end up disappointing the fans as it was deemed as one of the best title fights in UFC history. Both fighters did not give up throughout the five rounds and were continuously seen making their way back into the contest.
Kamaru Usman retains his title at UFC 268
Having said that, it was Kamaru Usman who emerged victorious via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47 and 49-46). In the second-round, the reigning welterweight champion dropped the challenger twice with his hooks. Even though, Covington was slow to start his attacking intent in the title fight, he clawed his way back in Round 3 and Round 4, enabling Usman to throw unnecessary jabs.
After the fight came to a close, both fighters were seen embracing one another’s tactical skills.
"There was a lot of trash talk, a lot of bad blood," The Nigerian Nightmare spoke in his post fight interview. "I'm sure there's going to still be some after tonight. But this guy is a tough son of a b*tch. He's tough as sh*t."
"He's tough, he’s super tough," Usman concluded. "I wanted to get crazy and get him out of there. But that's not what the best do.”
Despite what Covington said about Kamaru Usman’s father before the fight regarding drug abuse, he appreciated Usman’s mentality and mindset.
"Love me or hate me, I'm just getting started," Covington said as quoted by ESPN. "You haven't seen the best of Colby 'Chaos' Covington yet.”