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Colby Covington will get his second crack at reigning welterweight champion Kamaru Usman in the main event of UFC 268 from Madison Square Garden in New York City.
After their first battle, this is a highly anticipated fight, and the Garden should offer a grand stage befitting of the title matchup. It will be Usman’s fifth title defense, and he remains unbeaten in the UFC—his loss to Jose Caceres in his second professional fight, in Championship Fighting Alliance back in 2013, is the only blemish on his record.
The 170-pound championship isn’t the only title that will be on the line. Women’s Strawweight champion Rose Namajunas will see Zhang Weili in a rematch after scoring a first-round knockout in their first fight earlier this year.
The fun doesn’t just start with the co-main event. Justin Gaethje will take on Michael Chandler in lightweight action that should have a direct impact on the title picture in that division.
Overall, it’s a pretty loaded card with plenty of high-stakes matchups. Here’s a look at the whole card and a look at some of the buzz surrounding the biggest fights.
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Main Card (ESPN+ PPV at 10 p.m. ET)
- Kamaru Usman (c) -320 vs. Colby Covington +250—welterweight championship fight
- Rose Namajunas (c) +100 vs. Weili Zhang -120—women’s strawweight championship fight
- Shane Burgos -200 vs. Billy Quarantillo +170
- Marlon Vera -170 vs. Frankie Edgar +150
- Justin Gaethje -210 vs. Michael Chandler +175
Prelims (ESPN News/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET)
- Alex Pereira -260 vs. Andreas Michailids +210
- Bobby Green -180 vs. Al Iaquinta +155
- Phil Hawes -335 vs. Chris Curtis +260
- Nassourdine Imavov -115 vs. Edmen Shahbazyan -105
- Ian Garry -400 vs. Jordan Williams +300
Early Prelims (UFC Fight Pass at 6 p.m. ET)
- Chris Barnett +105 vs. Gian Villante -125
- Ode Osbourne -180 vs. CJ Vergara +155
- Dustin Jacoby -365 vs. John Allan +280
- Melsik Bahgdasaryan -320 vs. Bruno Souza +250
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook
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Colby Covington is good at fighting and he is no stranger to letting people know that. He’s proven he belongs in the upper echelon of the division but there’s no doubt he got some of his opportunities because of his personality.
So it should surprise no one that he recently made the decision to change fight camps to one that is more focused on him. As in, he’s the only fighter in his camp.
After losing to Usman the first time around Chaos made the switch from training at American Top Team to training with his own team he put together. The new team helped him prep for a fifth-round win over Tyron Woodley to get another title shot.
“Now, I have a team that is fully focused on me. I’m at Colby Covington Incorporated and we’re just focused on my progress and my evolution as a fighter every day,” he told Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports. “We don’t care about other fighters. All we care about is me, and my success, and growing together as a team.”
Covington probably is getting better. It makes sense that a fighter of his caliber would go to a situation where he can specifically work on his own improvement and develop a gameplan specific to his upcoming fight.
But the truth is that Usman is a generational talent. He’s elevated his own game throughout his career and while Covington has shown he can certainly push him, it’s still too hard to pick against the Nigerian Nightmare.
Prediction: Usman via decision
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Colby Covington isn’t the only fighter who made some changes after losing a title fight. Zhang Weili suffered her first loss since losing her MMA debut in 2013 against Rose Namajunas and is now excited about the opportunity to run it back against the now-champion.
First losses are always interesting in the UFC. Fighters come in to the organization with unbeaten records all the time and it isn’t uncommon to see the first loss completely undo a fighter’s confidence and it affects their performances going forward.
On the other hand, some learn from those losses and come back with a vengeance. Zhang is hoping to be in that latter category.
Zhang told media through a translator (h/t Danny Segura of MMAjunkie):
“…after I lost last fight, I think a lot. I see the loss as a pretty good thing for me, and it’s kind of like a treasure for me to learn more about myself and fighting.”
Zhang also switched camps, moving to the Fight Ready gym in Arizona where she worked with former flyweight and bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo.
Training with Cejudo should improve her wrestling, but that wasn’t the issue against Namajunas. She was simply caught by an impressive head kick that happened to land perfectly.
The problem is that Zhang’s high-pressure style leaves her open to getting countered. Her fight against Joanna Jedrzejczyk was a prime example. She absorbed 186 significant strikes in that bout, per UFC Stats.
Getting hit that much by Namajunas will result in a loss every time. It might take longer, but it’s the same result.
Prediction: Namajunas via third-round TKO
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It’s no secret that win or lose, a fight against Justin Gaethje is going to feature some serious damage. Few fighters bring the violence regardless of what it means for them quite like Gaethje.
Michael Chandler isn’t bothered by that and is comfortable predicting there will be plenty of violence on Saturday.
“Only thing we can guarantee — there will be violence. It will be exciting. Everyone in Madison Square Garden will be the beneficiary and everyone that buys the pay-per-view will be the beneficiary and we both get bonuses. That’s for sure,” Chandler said, per Damon Martin of MMA Fighting.
That isn’t just Chandler trying to sell tickets. Gaethje may be known as the highlight but Chandler is no stranger to wild fights either.
He came out swinging in a first-round knockout of Dan Hooker to earn his first tile shot and his bout with Charles Oliveira was a tightly contested one until Oliveira knocked him out in the second round.
Chandler’s willingness to bite down on the mouthpiece and swing could be his undoing here, though. Few doo that kind of fight better than Gaethje and Chandler’s knockout loss to Do Bronx should be concerning here.
Prediction: Gaethje via third-round TKO
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