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The highly-anticipated fight between Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington has officially ended. The Nigerian Nightmare beat Covington via TKO in the last-minute of the fifth round to end a dramatic fight and settle their grudge rivalry. UFC 245 was the final PPV of the decade.
Take nothing away from Covington, whose stock only grew in defeat. He undoubtedly proved his toughness after suffering a broken jaw and lasting till the end while also taking an incredible amount of damage to the body.
Interestingly enough, the scorecards were 2-2 for one judge before the fifth round while the other two gave it 3-1 to Usman and 3-1 to Covington respectively (the latter of which was heavily criticized by Joe Rogan on commentary).
Usman would possibly have just edged it out had he gone to a decision, but he made the right call and finished it and chose not to leave it in the hands of the judges. Given that it was a battle between two world-class wrestlers, you would imagine there would be a lot of takedown attempts.
There were zero takedown attempts, in what comes off as the most shocking statistic from the fight. It was entirely on the feet and Covington chose the volume approach while Usman was all about the power, constantly landing front kicks to the body and closed in on his jaw once he seemingly recognized the damage that he had caused.
Covington protested the stoppage but there was nothing unfair about it. It was well-timed and Covington was knocked down twice before being finished. As for what's next for Usman, it'll be interesting to see.
Jorge Masvidal should ideally be the next man in line, but Gamebred seems more interested in the biggest paycheque possible over a title shot. Leon Edwards is set to face Tyron Woodley in early 2020 so if the Britishman wins that, we could see him get a title shot. Either way, the future of the Welterweight division is exciting.
