UFC 245: 3 reasons why Kamaru Usman defeated Colby Covington
UFC 245 is over, and Kamaru Usman remains the UFC World Welterweight champion after a fifth round TKO victory over bitter rival – and former interim champion – Colby Covington.
‘Chaos’ talked an unprecedented amount of trash coming into the fight, hitting out at Usman’s nationality, his family and his team, but in the end it didn’t matter, as ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ was the one who had his hand raised.
In a somewhat surprising fight to watch, despite being tremendous wrestlers, both men went toe-to-toe in a striking battle throughout all five rounds, and things came to an end in the fifth and final round when Usman dropped Covington with two right hands and then finished him off.
Here are 3 reasons why Kamaru Usman defeated Colby Covington.
#1 Covington’s pace couldn’t wilt Usman
Covington has been around in the UFC since 2014, but it was in 2017 where he really rose to prominence with a pair of wins over top-ranked contenders Dong Hyun Kim and Demian Maia. Those two wins – and Covington’s subsequent ones over Rafael Dos Anjos and Robbie Lawler – were built on one foundation: pace and pressure.
One of the best conditioned athletes in MMA, ‘Chaos’ was simply able to push a pace that his opponents couldn’t keep up with. Covington’s striking was never the most technical in the division, but his cardio gave him the ability to simply wade forward and keep on throwing shots, and that – coupled with his takedown threat – meant that he was able to make his opponents wilt.
Last night though, Covington was faced with a man as conditioned as him in Usman. ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ was unbeaten in the UFC going into last night with 10 straight wins, and every one of those wins had seen him put incredible pressure on his opponent and never get tired doing so.
Neither Covington nor Usman was able to make the other wilt with their pace last night, but the difference was that Usman had more skills outside of that pressure game, and put them to better use.