In the UFC’s final PPV event of the year, in the mecca of fighting Maddison Square Garden, Kamaru “the Nigerian nightmare” Usman made the first defence of his UFC welterweight title.
Defeating Colby Covington in a very heated grudge match, via fifth round stoppage.
Although Usman was the current welterweight champion, it seemed he needed this main event fight and win to announce himself to the world.
It was a grudge match two years in the making with insults and verbal jabs flying around left right and centre. What made this grudge match so engrossing, was the classic good guy, bad guy rhetoric, however, the good guy/bad guy was depending on who was viewing it.
Colby Covington created and built this Trump loving character/villain complete with MAGA hats and “make America great again” slogans at every media opportunity he got.
He even rubbed UFC president Dana White up the wrong way on several occasions and at times had the cringe factor that was off the charts but you couldnt deny he made things interesting.
However, much like Trump, where it seemed outwardly most people found him deplorable due to the extensive and off putting political and racial tensions, America and the world is going through.
Behind the scenes many loved him and was secretly behind him.
On the other side, due to obvious reasons, many disliked Covington and was fully behind Usman to smash him.
You could only imagine the amount of pressure Usman was under to win this fight, I tweeted before the fight how it would be hell if Usman lost, that alone would have been an immense motivation to win, the fear of losing would have been huge.
As grudge fights go, it was a real one. From two fighters who are notoriously known for wrestling, the whole fight them standing and trading blows.
A crazy stat was there were 0 takedown attempts. That shows how much each fighter wanted hurt and knock the other out.
Covington was known for his gas tank and volume of strikes, Usman was prepared to test both and they went toe to toe for five rounds.
During the fight I was surprised neither went for a takedown and found it perplexing, but that’s what made the fight so gripping.
It was a fight in its rawest form, mano-a-mano, two warriors with genuine hate for the other, standing and trading, until the other is standing no more.
Both fighters had their successes during the fight, but the real significant breakthrough was the straight right hand by Usman in the 3rd round, that broke Covington’s jaw.
I have to admit, as much as I wanted Usman to win, you have to give credit to Covington who took that shot and many more after without showing much signs of distress.
He braved the broken jaw so well, Usman stated after fight he wasn’t even aware he had broken Covington’s jaw.
That was a testament to Covington’s toughness, as he kept fighting regardless of the pain he must have been feeling after taking further shots to the jaw.
With that said, something had to give and as the fighters came out for the fifth round, I had it 3-1 to Usman. However, it was stated that the judges had it a 3 way split, so everything was riding on the last round.
You had to admit that Covington, broken jaw and all, had the better first half of the round, Usman recognised this and stepped up his offence.
He then dropped Covington with another straight right hand, Covington was hurt and as quickly as he got up, Usman dropped him again with another right hand.
Usman wasted no time by jumping on a heavily bleeding Covington with some hammer fists, forcing ref Mark Goddard to stop the fight much to Covington’s protests but it was a good and justified stoppage.
With such an impressive win, at such a huge event, It really felt like a coming out party for Usman, where he was announcing himself as the undisputed top man in the division.
The saying is “you are not really a champion until you defend your belt” and this was a defence to be proud of, which will go down in UFC history as a legendary performance.
It is pressured enough to main event as the champion against a top contender. But to do it against an arch nemesis, who has been such a polarising individual, where it seemed there was genuine hate and distain between the two.
In a long build up with back and forth verbal altercations and the several almost physical ones over the past two years made the fight massive.
If you add the fact that it was the last PPV event of the year and the most stacked card of the year, which brought interested viewers, fans and celebrities from far and wide.
So to then to put on such a spectacle of a performance, topping it off with a fifth round finish in such a pressurised situation, well, you cannot ask for anymore.
Usman had said on many occasions that during his rise to the title, he was one of the most avoided fighters in the UFC and had to really prove himself and fight to get his opportunities.
This was the reason why, even with his impressive record, he wasn’t as well known or marketable as some other champions on the UFC roster.
Well, this will now all change, because as of UFC 245, its official that The Nigerian Nightmare has well and truly arrived as a top level performer and star and it seems he is here to stay. Congratulations champ.
