As expected, the UFC is going to run it back with Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington.
Almost exactly two years removed from their enthralling first matchup, welterweight rivals Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington are slated to have their rematch this fall.
Dana White told ESPN’s Brett Okamoto that the UFC welterweight champion Usman will once again put his belt on the line against the former interim champ Covington at UFC 268. While nothing is set in stone on date or location, it is expected that New York’s famed Madison Square Garden will host this headlining fight on November 6th. It would be the UFC’s first show in New York since UFC 244, when Jorge Masvidal fought Nate Diaz for the BMF belt.
Usman (19-1) has already fought twice this year, impressively stopping Gilbert Burns at February’s UFC 258 and then emphatically knocking out Jorge Masvidal at UFC 261 in July. ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ has successfully defended his title four times, starting with his incredibly entertaining and dramatic fifth-round TKO of Covington at UFC 245.
Covington (16-2) hasn’t competed since a rib injury TKO of Tyron Woodley last September. It’s his only fight post-Usman loss but it’s all worked out because that’s all he needed to get a title shot. He previously held the interim title when he beat Rafael dos Anjos in 2018, only to be stripped after he didn’t fight then-champion Tyron Woodley on the UFC’s specified date.
It’s been reported by Ariel Helwani that UFC 267, which takes place on October 30th in Abu Dhabi and features a pair of championship bouts — Jan Blachowicz vs. Glover Teixeira and Aljamain Sterling vs. Petr Yan 2 — will air as a non-PPV on ESPN/ESPN+. This would be the UFC’s first numbered non-PPV in ten years and presumably would be used as a platform to heavily advertise Usman vs. Covington 2 for the following week. Also you wouldn’t have to pay for two pay-per-views over a one week span, which is great for the consumer.