Two bitter rivals will have the chance to settle their rivalry once
and for all inside the Octagon.
It appears that Kamaru
Usman and Colby
Covington will square off again with Usman’s welterweight title
on the line. According to ESPN, the Ultimate Fighting Championship currently
targets the rematch between “The Nigerian Nightmare” and “Chaos”
for UFC 268. The card does not yet have an official date or
location, but the promotion is aiming for Madison Square Garden in
New York City. The first time the two fighters met, in the main
event of UFC 245 in December 2019, Usman stopped Covington with
punches 4:10 into Round 5 for his first title defense.
UFC welterweight champion Usman (19-1, 14-0 UFC) has won 14
straight fights, the longest active winning streak in the
promotion. After overcoming Covington, Usman upended Jorge
Masvidal by unanimous decision at UFC 251 before smashing
Gilbert
Burns at UFC 258. In his latest Octagon walkout, Usman rendered
Masvidal unconscious with a right hand that ended the night of
“Gamebred” at the 1:02 mark of the second stanza in their rematch
at UFC 261.
The loss with Usman was Covington’s first in more than four years.
Before that night, “Chaos” (16-2, 11-2 UFC) amassed a 7-bout
winning streak that included former UFC champions Rafael dos
Anjos and Robbie
Lawler. Covington’s win over dos Anjos at UFC 225 earned him an
interim welterweight title, though it was stripped by the UFC
months later when Covington could not commit to a unification bout
with then-champ Tyron
Woodley. Since losing to Usman, “Chaos” has been vocal about
getting a rematch, especially after bouncing back from the Usman
loss by dominating Woodley in the UFC Fight Night 178
headliner.
As of the time of this report, the clash between Usman and
Covington is the only matchup announced for the UFC 268 card.