Report: Kamaru Usman vs Colby Covington for the welterweight title is official for UFC 245 on December 14 in Las Vegas.
The welterweight title will be on the line at UFC 245 on December 14 as Kamaru Usman is set to face Colby Covington in what will be the third championship fight scheduled for the pay-per-view. ESPN was first to report the news. The bout comes together after several months of speculation and back-and-forth on social media.
Most notably, the two were tied to UFC 244 in New York when negotiations reportedly fell apart. With all sides claiming issues in making a deal, the UFC went ahead and booked Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz for the date and left speculation as to the future of the welterweight title. With talk about possibly putting the fight on ESPN in Washington D.C. or even having the winner of Masvidal and Diaz challenge for the title, the announcement for the fight at UFC 245 instead propels the division forward with one of the most unique match-ups of 2019.
Y’all must’ve forgot who took out the greatest WW of all time. Y’all keep crying about me defending? Well find the right guy and right 💰💰💰 and I’ll repeat the ass whoppin!! #aficanpower #maga #superneccessary #boomroasted #leonscott pic.twitter.com/CUElOJ5fhm
— KAMARU USMAN (@USMAN84kg) September 12, 2019
Kamaru Usman has been impressive in ten straight fights going back to his UFC debut. He’s posted victories over the likes of Leon Edwards, Demian Maia, and former champion Rafael dos Anjos before his five round clinic to wrest the title from long-time champion Tyron Woodley. The fight will be his first since winning the title and since recovering from a hernia.
Colby Covington is on a seven fight win-streak including victories over the aforementioned Maia and Dos Anjos as well, the latter of which being for the interim welterweight title back in 2018. After several failed attempts to make a fight with Tyron Woodley, Covington returned back in August where he had a dominant performance against former champion Robbie Lawler. Covington drew unprecedented attention from the first family with two members, Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump, in attendance to support him while the President of the United States himself tweeted his support on Fight Night.
Fight hard tonight Colby. You are a real Champ! #MAGA https://t.co/dj3JlWQu7i
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 3, 2019
With no show scheduled for New Year’s Eve, UFC 245 essentially serves as the year-end show for the promotion and has been stacked as such. Besides Usman vs Covington, featherweight champion Max Holloway will be taking on Alexander Volkanovski and bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes will fight Germaine de Randamie.
