![Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington will go to war at UFC 268. [Image via @espnMMA on Twitter]](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2021/11/e3800-16359583042657-1920.jpg)
![Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington will go to war at UFC 268. [Image via @espnMMA on Twitter]](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http%3A//www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20xmlns%3Axlink='http%3A//www.w3.org/1999/xlink'%20viewBox='0%200%2010%206.25'%3E%3Cfilter%20id='b'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20stdDeviation='.5'%3E%3C/feGaussianBlur%3E%3CfeComponentTransfer%3E%3CfeFuncA%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20type='discrete'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20tableValues='1%201'%3E%3C/feFuncA%3E%3C/feComponentTransfer%3E%3C/filter%3E%3Cimage%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20filter='url(%23b)'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The UFC is making its way back to Madison Square Garden in New York. UFC 268 will take place on November 6 in the prestigious arena.
The card will be headlined by a welterweight title fight rematch between Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington. The two previously fought at UFC 245 where 'The Nigerian Nightmare' took home the victory with a TKO in the final round.
The co-main event of UFC 268 will feature another rematch as Rose Namajunas and Zhang Weili will run it back for the UFC strawweight title. Their first encounter took place at UFC 261 where it took 'Thug Rose' just over a minute to finish Weili.
Former UFC interim champion Justin Gaethje will also return to action after a one year hiatus. 'The Highlight' will take on Michael Chandler, who competed for the UFC lightweight title in his last fight.
Other exciting matchups on the UFC 268 main card include a bantamweight scrap between Frankie Edgar and Marlon Vera and a featherweight showdown between Shane Burgos and Billy Quarantillo.
#5. Alex Pereira will win his UFC debut with a knockout
Alex Periera will make his highly anticipated UFC debut on the prelims of UFC 268. 'Poatan' will take on Andreas Michailidis in a middleweight bout at the event. Pereira will walk into the octagon on November 6 with a lot of hype behind him. The major reason behind this is that he is the only man to knock out current UFC middleweight king Israel Adesanya in a fight.
Pereira competed against 'The Last Stylebender' twice in kickboxing. The Brazilian won both contests - first by decision and then by knockout.
'Poatan' has only had four professional MMA fights of which he has won three. Keeping his extensive career as a kickboxer in mind, it would be safe to say that the 34-year-old could come out victorious on November 6 with a knockout.
Here are the Latest UFC Predictions by Sportskeeda
#4. Al Iaquinta will break his two fight skid at with a decision win UFC 268
After being out of action for more than two years, UFC lightweight Al Iaquinta will make his return to the octagon. He will take on Bobby Green in the prelims of UFC 268.
'Raging Al' lost his last fight with Dan Hooker at UFC 243. Meanwhile, Green is coming off a barn-burner fight against Rafael Fiziev at UFC 265. Both fighters are currently on a two-fight skid but the level of competition faced by Iaquinta in his last few fights is way higher in comparison.
Iaquinta also has wins over Kevin Lee and Jorge Masvidal where as 'King' lacks big names on his MMA resume.
Iaquinta has never been knocked out in his career and 'King' has suffered only two knockout defeats. So, the fight will likely go the full 15-minute distance and will probably end with Iaquinta edging out a decision victory over Green.
#3. Rose Namajunas vs. Zhang Weili will go the distance at UFC 268
With a headkick knockout in the first round at UFC 261, Rose Namajunas broke Zhang Weili's incredible 21-fight win streak and recaptured the UFC strawweight title.
'Thug Rose' did a similar thing in her first fight with Joanna Jędrzejczyk at UFC 217. Jędrzejczyk, who was undefeated before her first encounter with Namajunas, was knocked out in the first round by the 29-year-old. In the rematch, the Pole was better prepared and the fight went the 25-minute distance with Namajunas getting her hand raised again.
A similar thing could happen at UFC 268 as we could see an improved version of Weili ready to go toe-to-toe with 'Thug Rose' for five rounds. One indication of that happening is the fact that 'Magnum' is training with former UFC multi-division champion Henry Cejudo.
So, it is possible that the strawweight title fight will be a five-round war instead of a quick finish.
#2. Justin Gaethje will finish Michael Chandler inside two rounds at UFC 268
Justin Gaethje vs. Michael Chandler is being dubbed the 'people's main event' for UFC 268. Both fighters are known for their entertaining fighting styles. When the fight was announced, many people were calling for the lightweight banger to be a five-round contest.
A closer look at the fight will tell you that the chance of this scrap going past three rounds is highly unlikely.
'The Highlight' has five wins in the UFC and all of them have come via KO/TKO. The 32-year-old has secured all of his knockout wins inside the first two rounds. The only exception is his fight against Tony Ferguson at UFC 249. 'El Cucuy's granite chin helped him survive the beatdown until the final round when the fight was stopped by the referee.
Chandler does not boast the same ability to take heavy punches as Ferguson. This was evident in his last fight against Charles Oliveira where, after dominating 'Do Bronx' in the opening round, 'Iron' got finished in the second round via TKO.
It's not like Chandler lacks power shots of his own. We saw his explosive hands in action at UFC 257 when he knocked out Dan Hooker in the first round. However, Gaethje is notorious for taking heavy damage and still moving forward. We saw that in his fights against Michael Johnson, Dustin Poirier and Eddie Alvarez.
So there is a high probability of 'The Highlight' earning a knockout win inside the first two rounds at UFC 268.
#1. Kamaru Usman will finish Colby Covington inside three rounds
Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington delivered a classic five-round war in their first encounter in December 2019. 'The Nigerian Nightmare', who now trains with Trevor Wittman, has grown leaps and bounds since their first fight. Usman has defended his title three times since then including knockout wins against Gilbert Burns and Jorge Masvidal.
Covington has not shown the same type of activity since his loss to Usman. 'Chaos' has competed only once since UFC 245. He scored a TKO win against former champion Tyron Woodley, who was on a two-fight skid coming into the fight.
Their last fight was a stand-up affair as both fighters' wrestling abilities canceled each other out. This time around, the improvements in 'The Nigerian Nightmare's striking may prove to be too much for Covington.
So Usman has a decent chance of knocking out 'Chaos' inside three rounds.
