UFC 245: Usman vs. Covington - Preview

UFC's last pay-per-view of the year has MMA fans salivating, to say the least. In a dream come true scenario for fight fans around the globe, Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington will square off in the headliner of UFC 245 in Las Vegas for the UFC welterweight title where a total of three titles will be defended on the night.

Apart from the fight for the welterweight title, Max Holloway faces Alexander Volkanovski in the co-main event of the night in a fight for the UFC featherweight title. Apart from that, Amanda Nunes will also defend her bantamweight title against Germaine de Randamie

Fighter profiles -

Welterweight Bout (Main Event) - Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington

Kamaru Usman

UFC 235 Jones v Smith

Kamaru 'The Nigerian Nightmare' Usman heads into his first title defense with a perfect record of 10 wins and zero losses inside the octagon. Usman's claim to fame was his title fight against former UFC welterweight champ, Tyron Woodley. Usman decimated Woodley over the five-round contest and had his hand raised at the end of the one-sided fight. Usman is a former NCAA Division II national champion from the University of Nebraska and is best known for putting tremendous pressure on his opponents using his unmatched strength and huge frame.

Although Covington and Usman have similar fighting styles which is based on pressurizing their opponents, Usman has never been taken down in his career and add to that his superior strength, not many would bet against Usman to clinch the victory in this fight.

Colby Covington

UFC 225: Whittaker v Romero 2

Colby “Chaos” Covington never runs out of gas as he has proved time and time again. Chaos is on the back of a seven-fight winning streak, having beaten the likes of Rafael Dos Anjos and Robbie Lawler. Covington is a former All-American Division I and a two-time Pac-10 Conference champion and is blessed with exceptional talent and hard striking prowess.

This match-up is intriguing because both fighters bank on their stamina and advanced wrestling game to tire their opponents out and Colby is known for his takedowns while Usman never got taken down in his career. Given the stylistic similarities of the fighters, the fight promises to be a nail biter.

Featherweight Bout (Co-Main Event) - Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski

The co-main event of the night will showcase the abundance of talent in the featherweight division as the reigning champion Max Holloway goes up against Alexander Volkanovski in a thriller that will see one of the men being crowned the king of the featherweight division at the end of the fight.

Alexander Volkanovski

UFC 237: Aldo v Volkanovski

Alexander “The Great” Volkanovski fought his way up to the top after slaying veterans like Chad Mendes and Jose Aldo. Volkanovski is on a mammoth 17 fight win streak in professional MMA and aims to become only the second Australian to become a UFC champion.

However, in Max Holloway, the Australian is dealing with a different beast. Holloway is brilliant when it comes to using angles to his advantage and unleashing deadly combinations on his opponents.

Max Holloway

UFC 231 Holloway v Ortega

Max Holloway defends his title for the fourth time as he goes up against the undefeated Alexander Volkanovski on Saturday. Holloway's previous outing resulted in disappointment as he lost to Dustin Poirier in a lightweight bout to decide the #1 contender for Khabib Nurmagomedov's title. Holloway is an experienced campaigner who knows when to burst out and light his opponents up with some vicious striking.

The fight will definitely be tight as bot fighters are seasoned strikers who possess the uncanny ability to finish fights at any given time.

Other fights on the card include -

Welterweight Bout (Main Event)

Kamaru Usman Vs. Colby Covington

Featherweight Bout (Co-Main Event)

Max Holloway Vs. Alexander Volkanovski

Women Bantamweight Bout

Amanda Nunes Vs. Germaine de Randamie

Bantamweight Bout

Marlon Moraes Vs. José Aldo

Bantamweight Bout

Petr Yan Vs. Urijah Faber

Watch UFC 245 featuring Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington Live and Exclusive in India on 15th December 2019 from 08:30 am (IST) on SONY TEN 2 & SONY TEN 2 HD (English), SONY TEN 3 SD & SONY TEN 3 HD (Hindi)