“I watched that fight maybe 50 times now,” said Covington. The loss was a devastating blow for Covington, but he hasn’t discarded the fight and its result into the proverbial trash bin, never to watch or speak about it. But it never got that far, as Usman stopped Covington with 50 seconds left in an instant classic that made a rematch a natural.

So all the pictures are in my timestamp in my brain, and I'm ready to go out there and fulfill my destiny and get that world title.”Ĭovington got close the first time against Usman in their UFC 245 bout in December 2019, so close that the fifth and final round was going to decide the fight on the judges’ scorecards. “I was manifesting it then, I took all the pictures, I put it in my head and just visualized then and there what it was gonna be like when I came back to Madison Square Garden and got to headline. “It's just so weird that it comes full circle now,” said Covington. Order UFC 268: Usman vs Covington 2 On PPV This Saturday, it becomes a reality when he faces welterweight champion Kamaru Usman in a rematch that headlines UFC 268. But even then, he was thinking about a fight in the iconic arena.

I sat outside and I was just like, 'I'm gonna headline this someday, and it's gonna be for a world title.'”Īt the time, Covington was on a six-fight winning streak, he held the interim belt at 170 pounds and was about to fight (and beat) Robbie Lawler across the Hudson River in New Jersey. “I got to stay on the USS New York for a night and I remember I walked by Madison Square Garden and I just soaked it in. “About two years ago I went to Fleet Week to visit the Marines and the Navy and show my respects to the people that keep us free and fight for our liberty and freedoms here in America,” he recalled.

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