Kamaru Usman, Rose Namajunas Retain Championships in Route-Going Efforts at UFC 268

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The gulf between Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington appears to have shrunk ever so slightly but not enough to necessitate a changing of the guard.

“The Nigerian Nightmare” maintained his stranglehold on the undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight crown with a unanimous decision over Covington in the UFC 268 headliner on Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York. All three cageside judges scored it for Usman (20-1, 15-0 UFC): 48-47, 48-47 and 49-46.

SWANGIN' & BANGIN'

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An understandably cautious Covington (16-3, 11-3 UFC)—who succumbed to fifth-round punches from the champion in their December 2019 encounter at UFC 245—took some time to get going. Usman floored him twice with crushing left hooks in the second round, but the MMA Masters export managed to survive and once again pushed “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 21 winner to his limit. Covington started to string punches together in the third round, wobbled his rival with uppercuts on more than one occasion and even forced him backward with a body kick. Usman stayed composed in the face of significant pressure, leaned on his jab and made his way to the finish line with his title reign alive.

Namajunas Edges Zhang in Rematch

Timely takedowns, determined top control and undying aggression spurred Rose Namajunas to a split decision over Weili Zhang, as she retained her undisputed women’s strawweight championship in the five-round co-main event. Judges Douglas Crosby and Eric Colon scored it 48-47 and 49-46 for Namajunas, while Michael Bell saw it 48-47 for Zhang.

The tension never broke, with champion and challenger trading barbs on the feet and on the ground. Zhang (21-3, 5-2 UFC) invested heavily in leg kicks, staggered her counterpart with a left hook, mixed in a few takedowns and climbed to full mount at one point. Namajunas (11-4, 9-3 UFC), meanwhile, chipped away with chopping right hands, moved forward in the face of considerable resistance and turned in a dominant fifth round. There, she struck for a takedown roughly a minute into the period, bottled up Zhang and kept her pinned to the mat for the duration, applying her ground-and-pound whenever possible. Namajunas stood with 30 seconds to go on the clock, kicked the legs and jumped back into full guard to chew up the remaining time.

Namajunas now owns a 2-0 advantage in her head-to-head series with Zhang, having knocked out the Fight Ready representative at UFC 264 in April.

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Vera Kick Vanquishes Edgar

“The Ultimate Fighter Latin America” semifinalist Marlon Vera put away Frankie Edgar with a front kick in the third round of their bantamweight attraction. Vera (18-7-1, 12-6 UFC) drew the curtain 3:50 into Round 3, winning for the eighth time in 10 appearances.

Edgar (24-10-1, 18-10-1 UFC) struck for two takedowns in the first half of the fight, consolidating them with positional control and elbow-laced ground-and-pound. Vera was undeterred. He scrambled free in the second round and overwhelmed Edgar with merciless pressure. Vera staggered the Mark Henry disciple with a left hook in Round 3, cut off his increasingly desperate bids for takedowns, backed him to the fence and sliced through his defenses with the front kick. The impact snapped back Edgar’s head and dropped him face first to the canvas, at which point referee Todd Anderson elected to intervene.

The 40-year-old Edgar has lost four of his past five bouts, three of them via knockout.

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Steady Burgos Denies Quarantillo

Team Tiger Schulmann’s Shane Burgos rebounded from back-to-back losses to Edson Barboza and Josh Emmett with a unanimous decision over former King of the Cage champion Billy Quarantillo in a three-round featherweight feature. Burgos (14-3, 7-3 UFC) swept the scorecards with 29-28 marks across the board.

Quarantillo (16-4, 4-2 UFC) made him earn it. “The Ultimate Fighter 22” graduate pressed forward with punches and an almost maniacal purpose. Burgos met his aggression with clean punching combinations and a steady stream of kicks to the lower leg. Quarantillo could barely stand during the second half of the fight but continued to let his hands go, all while doing admirable work at close range. Those efforts fell short after 15 minutes.

The victory was Burgos’ first since Nov. 2, 2019.

Unbreakable Gaethje Outlasts Chandler

Damaging low kicks, devastating power punches and an unshakable resolve carried former World Series of Fighting champion Justin Gaethje to a unanimous decision over Michael Chandler in an epic three-round lightweight showcase that seems certain to wind up on a number of reputable “Fight of the Year” lists. All three cageside judges scored it for Gaethje (23-3, 6-3 UFC): 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27.

Chandler (22-7, 1-2 UFC) had the Trevor Wittman protégé reeling on the end of his blinding right hand on more than one occasion in the first round but could not finish the job. Gaethje returned fire under considerable duress, zeroed in on the three-time Bellator MMA titleholder’s lower lead leg and slowly but surely seized the reins. He floored Chandler with a crushing uppercut in the second round and continued to assault his already compromised base with kicks. Gaethje withstood a final push from the Sanford MMA rep—it included savage hooks to the body from both hands—and scrambled out of a high-amplitude takedown in the third round, where the two revered gladiators finally seemed to run out of steam.

Gaethje has rattled off five wins in six outings, an October 2020 defeat to the great Khabib Nurmagomedov the lone misstep.

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