UFC 268: Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington 2 preview and prediction

Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington 2 match-up preview and fight prediction.

UFC 268 will be headlined by Kamaru Usman’s fifth title defense of the UFC’s welterweight championship, as he takes on the former interim champion, Colby Covington.

After defeating Tyron Woodley in 2019, Usman has successfully defended his belt against Covington, Jorge Masvidal (twice) and Gilbert Burns. The champion has remained extremely active, while Covington has fought just once since his loss to Usman defeating Woodley via fifth-round stoppage.

In the first clash between these two, we saw arguably one of the greatest fights of all time, and the fact that Usman has dismantled every top contender in the division shows how great Covington really is. People underestimate the success Covington had in the first fight, one judge had him leading 3-1 going into the fifth round.

Who will win in the Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington rematch?

The second fight is a very interesting fight to break down. Looking at the success Usman had in the first fight going to the body it’s hard not seeing him go back there. Usman was able to land hard jabs to the body and head mixing his punches together beautifully. This really overwhelmed Covington late in the fight as he couldn’t tell where the shots were coming from.

Expect Usman to come in with a similar game plan, but now with a lot more confidence. His standup game has continued to evolve fight after fight, he already finished him on the feet before I don’t see him attempting to take this fight to the ground. Usman will look to stand and bang again with Colby on Nov 6.

Anticipate Covington on the other hand changing some things up. Covington’s biggest weapon is his cardio, he was able to swarm and pressure every single opponent he fought in the UFC besides Usman. Neither of these fighters will tire and Covington now knows his volume won’t be as effective as it was against previous opponents. We will see him try to incorporate some wrestling, which we didn’t see at all in the first fight. If he can take Usman down and steal a round or two it may be huge in this fight.

If Covington is going to win this fight his head movement and defense must be on point.  His best shot in this fight is staying out of range of the jab and blasting kicks to the body and legs. He doubled Usman’s landed strikes to the legs in the first fight. It would not be a surprise if he came in throwing hard kicks attacking the legs of Usman.

The real question is can Covington take Usman down? Well, when you look back at Usman’s previous fights we saw Demian Maia was able to take his back. It’s not far-fetched to say a former Division 1 all-American wrestler in Covington can out wrestle a division 2 national champion in Usman.

This will be a dog fight make no mistake about that. Ultimately both fighters’ skills are so similar and equally matched that it may come down to who wants it more. Who is hungrier? As cliche and that sounds many believe it to be true. Hunger and motivation are everything in the fight game, we saw it with the downfall of Conor McGregor and most recently with Jan Blachowicz. Covington is the hungrier fighter here. He’s coming into this fight desperate and dangerous with his last shot at gold. Look for him to shock the world this weekend as the betting underdog.

Prediction: Colby Covington via unanimous decision.

UFC 268 takes place on Saturday, Nov. 6, 2021, live from Madison Square Garden in New York, NY. Follow along with FanSided MMA, who will be on-site for all your live results and highlights.