"He's gonna get knocked out again if he's not careful" - Daniel Cormier explains what Colby Covington needs to do to dethrone Kamaru Usman at UFC 268
Daniel Cormier feels Colby Covington will have to wrestle Kamaru Usman and secure takedowns in order to claim the belt at UFC 268
Usman (19-1) defeated Covington (16-2) via TKO at UFC 245 in December 2019 to complete his first successful title defense. The duo will compete in the rematch at Madison Square Garden.
Speaking to the live UFC 268 weigh-in panel, former two-division champ and ESPN analyst Cormier stressed that 'Chaos' can't beat 'The Nigerian Nightmare' if he keeps the fight standing like in the first match.
"I think it comes out to Covington more than Usman because I think Covington needs to get takedowns. Because he has to use it to try to tire Usman out. I think that was probably the biggest surprise for him in fight one. It was that the pace that he put on Robbie Lawler, on RDA (Rafael dos Anjos)... he didn't have to do that on Usman, who was able to just stand with him. He needs to try to wrestle him more to try and really attack the gas tank of Usman if he wants a chance. Because if he just stands with him with the improvements Kamaru's made, he's gonna get knocked out again if he's not careful," said Cormier.
Watch Daniel Cormier speak about Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington 2 below:
Both Usman and Covington have officially made weight for the 170-pound main event.
Kamaru Usman has the longest active winning streak in the UFC
Kamaru Usman is on a 14-bout winning streak in the UFC right now. He is only behind the former middleweight champion Anderson Silva, who has 16 straight victories, in the list of longest winning streaks in the world's biggest MMA promotion.
Usman is also currently ranked No.1 in the UFC men's pound-for-pound rankings. He has made four successful welterweight title defenses so far and has never been taken down in the UFC.
Kamaru Usman's 14-fight win streak is now the 2nd-longest in UFC history, trailing only Anderson Silva's 16-fight win streak (2006-12).
Jorge Masvidal is knocked out for just the second time in his MMA career (first since June 7, 2008). https://t.co/k1nr4n66UP
'The Nigerian Nightmare' lost the only fight of his professional MMA career way back on May 24, 2013.