Follow UFC 274 live. Kamaru Usman and Rose Namajunas both won title rematches at UFC 268 from Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Greg Rosenstein
Summary
Follow UFC 274 live.
Kamaru Usman and Rose Namajunas both won title rematches at UFC 268 from Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Namajunas defeated Zhang Weili in the women's strawweight division by split decision. Welterweight champ Kamaru Usman kept his title by unanimous decision against Colby Covington.
Marlon Vera, Shane Burgos and Justin Gaethje also got wins on the ESPN+ pay-per-view.
Fight card
- Kamaru Usman def. Colby Covington by unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46)
- Rose Namajunas def. Zhang Weili by split decision (49-46, 48-47, 47-48)
- Marlon Vera def. Frankie Edgar via third-round KO (3:50)
- Shane Burgos def. Billy Quarantillo by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Justin Gaethje def. Michael Chandler by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, and 30-27)
- Alex Pereira def. Andreas Michailidis via second-round TKO (0:18)
- Bobby Green def. Al Iaquinta via first-round TKO (2:25)
- Chris Curtis def. Phil Hawes via first-round KO (4:27)
- Nassourdine Imavov def. Edmen Shahbazyan via second-round TKO (4:42)
- Ian Garry def. Jordan Williams via first-round KO (4:59)
- Chris Barnett def. Gian Villante via second-round TKO (2:23)
- Dustin Jacoby def. John Allan via unanimous decision (29-28 x2, 30-27)
- Melsik Baghdasaryan def. Bruno Souza via unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
- Ode Osbourne def. Carlos Vergara via unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
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- UFC 268 odds, picks, best bets, analysis: Why Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington are among best pound-for-pound fighters
(Photo credit: Jeff Bottari / Zuffa LLC)
Usman, Covington throw the animosity out after tough fight
The two fighters embraced after the fight and had nice words for each other after a hard-fought five-round bout. That continued in the post-fight interviews.
Usman said Covington had improved since their last fight and Covington said his best is still to come.
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Kamaru Usman defeats Covington to retain UFC welterweight title
Round 5: Title fight goes the distance in close battle
Neither fighter did a lot of significant damage in the fifth but Usman was more of the aggressor. I give him the edge and the fight. 3 rounds to 2 with a 10-8.
Round 4: Colby evened it up
This is wild based on how the first two rounds went, but Covington is landing the better shots in the later rounds. He had a nice kick to the body and followed it up with hard shots after. More significant damage.
Round 3: Covington slight edge
Covington bounced back nicely from the knockdowns in Round 2 with a close ege in the third. He took some damage from Usman but also landed some of his own. He had a nice combination of jabs midway through and then got a late takedown.
Round 2: Usman drops Covington twice
Usman easily took this round after dropping his opponent on two separate occasions. He landed a left hook with a minutes remaining that sent Covington to the mat. After he got up, Usman landed another hard left that did the same thing. Covington scrambled for a takedown to limit the damage before the round ended. He survives.
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Round 1: Feel out first round
Not a ton happened in that first round. Covington went for a couple different takedown attempts but both were stuffed by Usman. Neither landed anything hard. Covington had a cut on his face opened after an accidental clash of heads.
Usman and Covington in the cage
It's time for the main event, as both fighters are in the cage. Welterweight title on the line. Let's do this.
Namajunas wins by split decision
Rose Namajunas keeps her strawweight title. She wins by split decision. The two fighters embraced after the fight and after the results were given.
Each fighter had one judge score the fight 48-47 in their favor. Namajunas had a 49-46 judge, which was the difference.
(Photo credit: Jeff Bottari / Zuffa LLC)
Namajunas, Zhang go the distance
Rose Namajunas had a big Round 5. "Let's go Rose!" chants came just before she got a takedown of Zhang Weili. Namajunas was on top of Zhang most of the round.
Now an exciting bout goes to the judges.
(Photo credit: Jeff Bottari / Zuffa LLC)
A flurry of activity in Round 3 of Zhang-Namajunas
Namajunas landed a big right hand on Zhang in the middle of the third round, but Zhang finished the round with a takedown and got some ground-and-pound in. If the round was 15 seconds longer, Zhang could have had a chance to end it. Namajunas avoided major damage thanks to the bell.
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Zhang staggers Namajunas with a big blow in the second round
Zhang Weili landed a big punch on Rose Namajunas and got her to the ground soon after. She has two takedowns through the first two rounds.
Namajunas finished Round 2 with a takedown of Zhang. A lot of activity in this one so far.
Chito Vera just destroyed Frankie Edgar
Vera landed a brutal front-kick KO on the former UFC champ midway through the third round on Saturday.
Big bet on Namajunas at BetMGM
Scorecards or Burgos Quarantillo
Shane Burgos defeats Billy Quarantillo via unanimous decision
Burgos and Quarantillo was an all-out war, just not the war we just witnessed with Gaethje and Chandler. Burgos destroyed his opponents leg with hard kicks and Quarantillo could barely walk for the last couple rounds. Quarantillo still fought through, landing tough shots.
This would have been Fight of the Night on most cards.
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Gaethje defeats Chandler by unanimous decision
Gaethje earned the unanimous decision win and said he expects a lightweight title shot next. He had scores of 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27 by judges.
FIGHT OF THE YEAR
That was insane. I have it 29-28 with Gaethje taking the final two rounds. He nearly dropped Chandler multiple times in the last round, clearly fatigued, but Chandler had moments of his own. Back and forth for three rounds. I want two more.
Gaethje clearly takes Round 2
Justin Gaethje dropped Michael Chandler midway through the second round with an upper cut. Out of desperation, Chandler went for the takedown and survived. Both guys continued to trade but Gaethje being the more patient, effective striker.
Towards the end of the round, Chandler did land a nice shot but accidentally added an eye poke. He followed with another shot that Gaethje wasn't happy with.
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