Kamaru Usman-Colby Covington Rematch Targeted for UFC 268 in November

Two bitter rivals will have the chance to settle their rivalry once and for all inside the Octagon.

It appears that Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington will square off again with Usman’s welterweight title on the line. According to ESPN, the Ultimate Fighting Championship currently targets the rematch between “The Nigerian Nightmare” and “Chaos” for UFC 268. The card does not yet have an official date or location, but the promotion is aiming for Madison Square Garden in New York City. The first time the two fighters met, in the main event of UFC 245 in December 2019, Usman stopped Covington with punches 4:10 into Round 5 for his first title defense.

UFC welterweight champion Usman (19-1, 14-0 UFC) has won 14 straight fights, the longest active winning streak in the promotion. After overcoming Covington, Usman upended Jorge Masvidal by unanimous decision at UFC 251 before smashing Gilbert Burns at UFC 258. In his latest Octagon walkout, Usman rendered Masvidal unconscious with a right hand that ended the night of “Gamebred” at the 1:02 mark of the second stanza in their rematch at UFC 261.

The loss with Usman was Covington’s first in more than four years. Before that night, “Chaos” (16-2, 11-2 UFC) amassed a 7-bout winning streak that included former UFC champions Rafael dos Anjos and Robbie Lawler. Covington’s win over dos Anjos at UFC 225 earned him an interim welterweight title, though it was stripped by the UFC months later when Covington could not commit to a unification bout with then-champ Tyron Woodley. Since losing to Usman, “Chaos” has been vocal about getting a rematch, especially after bouncing back from the Usman loss by dominating Woodley in the UFC Fight Night 178 headliner.

As of the time of this report, the clash between Usman and Covington is the only matchup announced for the UFC 268 card.