By Josh Lynnes
New York, NY – The UFC returns to Madison Square Garden for UFC 268 Saturday night. A stacked card featuring a pair of title fight rematches and a war to determine a lightweight contender. UFC pound-for-pound king Kamaru Usman looks to defend his welterweight title against Colby Covington in a rematch nearly two years in the making. Strawweight champion Rose Namajunas defends her belt against former champ Zhang Weili in a rematch of a fight in April that saw Namajunas walk away with the title. Justin Gaethje and Michael Chandler will go toe-to-toe in a battle to put their name front and center for a shot at the lightweight title.
Colby Covington wants nothing more than to avenge his 2019 loss to champion Kamaru Usman. The first time these competitors stepped into the octagon was a very entertaining and close fight until Usman got the TKO stoppage late in the final round to retain his title. Covington has been waiting for this rematch since he dispatched former champ Tyron Woodley by TKO in September of 2020. Usman has remained busy racking up three title defenses since the first time he faced Covington including a win over Gilbert Burns and a pair of wins over Jorge Masvidal.
Namajunas takes on Weili in her first title defense since regaining the title with a first round head kick knockout of Weili in April. Weili has since added to her arsenal by training with former two division champion Henry Cejudo in hopes of taking the belt back.
Kicking off the pay-per-view is fight that is sure to be exciting as Justin Gaethje faces off against Michael Chandler for a potential shot at the UFC lightweight crown. Both fighters are coming off title losses, Gaethje lost due to submission to Khabib Nurmagomedov for the lightweight title last October, while Chandler is coming off a second round TKO loss to current champion Charles Oliveira in May.
Completing the main card is a bantamweight match-up between former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and Marlon Vera. Billy Quarantillo looks to break into the featherweight rankings as he faces Shane Burgos.
Fighting on the prelims Edmen Shahbazyan and Nassourdine Imavov collide in a middleweight match-up. Phil Hawes welcomes newcomer Chris Curtis to the UFC middleweight division. Fan favorites Al Iaquinta and Bobby Green throw down in a lightweight battle. Alex Pereira makes his highly anticipated UFC debut when he takes on Andreas Michailidis in a middleweight bout.
Early prelims include:
Flyweight – CJ Vergara vs. Ode Osbourne
Featherweight – Melsik Baghdasaryan vs. Bruno Souza
Light Heavyweight – Dustin Jacoby vs. John Allan
Heavyweight – Gian Villante vs Chris Barnett
Welterweight – Ian Garry vs Jordan Williams
Early prelims start at 5:00PM CDT on UFC Fight Pass. Action then shifts to ESPNNEWS and ESPN+ at 7:00PM followed by the pay-per-view main card at 9:00PM on ESPN+ PPV.
