UFC 268 LIVE: Kamaru Usman vs Colby Covington result plus Rose Namajunas and Justin Gaethje reaction tonight
Follow all the fallout from Madison Square Garden
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.
UFC 268 – Pereira def. Michailidis
Alex Pereira def. Andreas Michailidis via second-round TKO (jumping knee, 0:18).
UFC 268 – Pereira def. Michailidis
Round 2
Oh! Early in Round 2, Pereira gets the KO with a jumping knee! That’s what he’s all about!
He celebrates with new UFC light heavyweight champion Glover Texeira in his corner.
UFC 268 – Pereira vs Michailidis
Round 1
Little action in the clinch, and the opponents are separated by the referee.
But at once they’re back against the fence, with Michailidis in control.
The first round ends with the fighters in that position, to heavy boos in NYC.
UFC 268 – Pereira vs Michailidis
Round 1
Michailidis wisely shoots for a takedown early on, and he gets it against the cage.
He has a hook in as he looks to take Pereira’s back. He’s staying patient, firing off punches to the face of his opponent.
The Greek loses his hook. The MSG crowd don’t like this grappling.
Pereira is back to his feet, still against the cage.
UFC 268 – Pereira vs Michailidis
Pereira lost his MMA debut but has since won three in a row. His Greek opponent Michailidis (13-4) is 1-1 in the UFC, having won his last outing in May.
UFC 268 – Pereira vs Michailidis
The final prelim bout of the evening should be an interesting one.
Alex Pereira is a kickboxing champion, who twice beat UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya in the sport.
He even handed ‘Stylebender’ his only KO loss as a kickboxer.
Therefore, if Pereira is to enjoy a successful UFC debut here, don’t be surprised to see him fast-tracked towards a title shot.
Of course, he must first beat Andreas Michailidis, and even then he’d need a couple more wins at least to get to Adesanya – who is set to defend his belt against Robert Whittaker early next year.
UFC 268 – Green def. Iaquinta
Bobby Green def. Al Iaquinta via first-round TKO (strikes, 2:25).
Green silences the NYC crowd by stopping their man!
UFC 268 – Iaquinta vs Green
Round 1
Green looking relaxed with his hands down early on. Lovely one-two from him.
He misses with a jab but has Iaquinta swinging wildly. He’s showboating already.
He knocks down Iaquinta with a one-two, with his back to the fence!
Iaquinta can’t recover, and referee Marc Goddard steps in as Green lands numerous hammer fists with his opponent on the mat!
UFC 268 – Iaquinta vs Green
This should be a fun one. Al Iaquinta, best known to some fans for lasting five rounds against Khabib Nurmagomedov, returns after two years out.
The New Yorker should have huge backing from his home crowd tonight as he takes on Californian Bobby Green.
Iaquinta lost his last two bouts – against Dan Hooker and Donald Cerrone – via decision, as has Green.
UFC 268 – Curtis def. Hawes
That was a great win for Curtis on his UFC debut.
Hawes looked so slick and technical from the opening buzzer, and he was finding success to the head and body with various weapons.
Curtis had literally just started to gather some momentum when he secured the stoppage, though. His hook staggered Hawes, who just couldn’t recover.
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