Tomorrow night in the main event of UFC 268, we will see a rematch that is almost two years in the making. The welterweight champion Kamaru Usman (19-1) will be defending his welterweight crown against the top contender in the world Colby Covington (16-2).
These two men first met back at UFC 245. That night, the two men couldn’t have been more even. The judges were completely divided after four rounds with one having them tied, one judge having Covington winning, and one judge scoring the fight for Usman.
Usman took the judges out of the equation by stopping Covington in the fifth to retain his UFC title. Now, nearly two years later, we will see them run it back. Since their last fight, Usman has fought three times. He defeated Jorge Masvidal twice and he stopped Gilbert Burns.
We’ve only seen Colby Covington fight once in the UFC since the first fight. Last August, he fought Tyron Woodley and got a fifth round TKO after Woodley suffered an injury. Granted, Covington completely dominated all aspects of that fight.
UFC 268 Prediction
When these two first fought, I thought they were insanely close in terms of their skills. The only real advantage I gave the UFC welterweight champion was his power. Turns out, that power was the deciding factor in their first fight.
We’ve seen Kamaru Usman continue to get better and better over the last couple of years. While Covington might’ve improved as well, we haven’t seen much of him. Usman is the massive betting favorite heading into UFC 268 and there’s a good reason for it.
One thing to watch out for at UFC 268 is the wrestling of Colby Covington. If there’s going to be any change from the first fight, I’m expecting Covington to try and mix things up more. If he just tries to stand and trade with Usman, he’s likely going to get finished again.
Will he be able to take Usman down is going to be the big question. Ultimately, I think were in for another good fight where we see these guys stand the majority of the time. With me thinking that, I think the result is going to be the same in the end with Usman’s hand raised.
Prediction: Kamaru Usman by TKO – Round 3