Usman and Covington met for the first time when they fought for the championship belt in December 2019. That time, Usman won via technical knockout in the fifth round with only 50 seconds left.

Last night, they met again, in front of a sold-out Madison Square Garden, and made up for the belt in the 77-kilo class.

Covington had promised in advance to suffocate Usman at a high pace, but this did not happen and he had clear respect for the champion's strength after their first meeting.

Instead, it was Usman who started best and with half a minute left of the second round, he floored his rival with a short left hook.

Covington got up quickly, but was hit by a new hook and went downhill again.

The gong saved him that time.

In the third round, the challenger seemed to get started all the more.

He got in a few hard hits and became the first ever to wrestle Usman on the hill, although the takedown is not included in the official UFC statistics because he failed to establish control on the ground.

In round four, Covington seemed to be the most comfortable in the exchanges and shook Usman, among other things with a nice hit at the last second.

Round five was even and both got in several nice hits.

The match expired and Usman won by unanimous decision with the numbers 48-47, 48-47, 49-46.

The text is updated.

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