Nigeria’s Usman Knocks Out Covington To Retain UFC Title News

Navigation: Home / News / News / Nigeria’s Usman Knocks Out Covington To Retain UFC Title

Nigeria’s Usman Knocks Out Covington To Retain UFC Title

By Daily Sports on December 16, 2019

Nigeria’s Kamaru Usman, in the early hours of Sunday, defeated Colby Covington courtesy of a fifth-round knockout to retain his UFC welterweight title at UFC 245 in Las Vegas, Nevada.⁣

The ‘Nigerian Nightmare’ stopped Covington in the final round after multiple knockdowns, in a contest that saw the two elite wrestlers strike throughout.⁣

The win took Usman’s mixed martial arts record to 16-1-0 (11-0 in the UFC) while Covington, who was previously interim champion of the division, dropped to 15-2-0.

Covington, in the build-up to the fight, showed little respect towards Usman, using uncomplimentary words, and even predicting it would be “an easy fight for me.”

He even insulted Usman’s Nigerian heritage, saying: “How is he more American than me? My family has served in the Korean War, in the Vietnam War; my family has shed blood for that flag, for the red, white and blue of America. What has his family ever done for America beside serve in the Federal penitentiary?”

He added: “He’s out here claiming to be the first Nigerian-born, African champion. He was born in Dallas. He went to college in Nebraska. He was wiping the mats at the Olympic training centre in Colorado, and now he lives in Boca Raton (Florida). There ain’t no Nigerian nightmares in Boca. The only things in Boca are early bird specials.”

But that is exactly what ‘Chaos’ Covington will be having for the next couple of nights – if not weeks – after Auchi, Edo State-born Usman, who has been unstoppable since making his UFC debut back in 2015, winning 10 fights in a row, and becoming the first Nigerian-born champion in UFC history in the process, handed out a mixed martial arts lesson to the cocky American.

However, in the fifth and final round, with Covington appearing to be on the ascendency, Usman floored Covington with a right hand, and then after following up with a few more powerful shots, the fight was called by the referee. (The Guardian)

•PHOTO: Kamaru Usman

Source Daily Sports

Posted December 16, 2019