Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington again contested a classic for the UFC welterweight title on Saturday night, with Usman outpointing his rival to retain the belt against him for a second time.
Two years after Usman stopped Covington in the fifth round of one of the most competitive title fights in UFC history, the Nigerian-American again put the gold on the line against the Floridian this weekend. And in the main event of UFC 268, in a sold-out Madison Square Garden in New York City, Usman again overcome Covington in a thrilling encounter. The fight went to the judges’ scorecards and, although a draw was conceivable – even a narrow Covington victory – Usman was declared the winner via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46).
In the evening’s co-main event, strawweight Rose Namajunas also retained her title on points, beating Weili Zhang 48-47, 47-48, 49-46 for a split-decision victory. Earlier this year, Namajunas became a two-time strawweight champion by stopping Zhang via first-round head kick, but the Chinese star gave a much better account of herself in New York City, arguably unfortunate not to get the nod on the judges’ scorecards.
Earlier in the night, Justin Gaethje outpointed Michael Chandler, with the main-card opener somehow over-delivering. Gaethje’s meeting with fellow lightweight contender Chandler was expected by many fans to play out as fight of the night, yet somehow the contest was even more competitive and brutal than anticipated. A fine start by Chandler gave way to a second round in which the former Bellator champion was dropped by Gaethje, though Chandler would survive and go on to hurt his fellow American numerous times in a valiant losing effort.
Re-live updates from the UFC 268 prelims and main card, below.
