UFC 268 went down last Saturday night (Nov. 6, 2021) from inside Madison Square Garden in New York City. The event featured several high-profile fights that lived up to the billing in every way imaginable. But while the night was filled with the highest of highs for several combatants, the other half of the equation were left to endure the post-fight blues.
Among them was Zhang Weili who, despite a valiant effort, didn’t do enough to convince the judges she deserved to get the win over Rose Namajunas in their championship rematch (highlights). And Michael Chandler, who suffered his second straight defeat inside the Octagon after coming up short against Justin Gaethje in an epic Lightweight bout, though his stock definitely went up post-fight (see it here).
But which fighter is suffering from the worst post-fight hangover, now a few days removed from the show?
Colby Covington.
Coming into the rematch against Kamaru Usman, Covington was determined to adjust and correct any mistakes he may have made in the first fight — which he wound up losing via fifth-round TKO.
While Covington did look much sharper this time around, even becoming the first man to take down “The Nigerian Nightmare,” in the end Usman proved superior, scoring the unanimous decision win over his rival.
But Covington has nothing to hang his head low over. He gave the champ his toughest test to date, rocking him on one occasion. The trash-talking Welterweight also showed just how tough and durable he is, surviving two consecutive knockdowns in round two to give Usman all he could handle for the rest of the fight.
As for what’s next for Covington, he would love nothing more than to finally settle his beef with his former training partner-turned rival, Jorge Masvidal.
“He should probably pull out of that fight with Leon Scott and we should just run it. Let’s run it in the first quarter of the first part of the year and let’s do it,” said Covington of Masvidal during the post-fight presser. “That’s a heated rivalry, man. He talked so much shit in the media and said so many things about me. Look what happened when he fought ‘Marty.’ He got dusted.
“If he fought me, he’d get dusted even worse and it wouldn’t even be competitive. So I just want to hold these people accountable for the way they run their mouth in the media. It makes sense. If he goes ahead with that Leon Scott fight, then Hunter Campbell, I just pray to you. Please, God, don’t cut him after that third loss in a row. Keep him around and let me be the one who ends his career.”
As Covington stated, Masvidal and Leon Edwards are set to collide at UFC 269 on Dec. 11, so the chances of the fight getting axed to please “Chaos” are slim to none. That said, Covington should get “Gamebred” next if he comes up short against Edwards. If Masvidal defeats “Rocky,” then Covington vs. Edwards, makes sense, as well.
For complete UFC 268 results and coverage click here.