There were pretty harsh stumbles along the way to make this particular fight for UFC 244 at Madison Square Garden in New York, but now Colby Covington's bid to wrest the UFC welterweight crown from the grasp of Kamaru Usman is set for UFC 245. The promotion announced on Tuesday that the former interim champion and the reigning undisputed 170-pound champion will square off at the December event in Las Vegas.
The pair have seemingly been on a collision course since Usman was selected at the top challenger to face Tyron Woodley in March after multiple attempts to book Covington against the now former champion in Woodley.
Covington (15-1) most recently dominated Robbie Lawler at UFC on ESPN 5, throwing a record 541 strikes while defeating the former UFC welterweight champ. He has won seven consecutive bouts, including winning the interim belt at 170 pounds with a domination of Rafael Dos Anjos before being stripped of the belt following Woodley's defense of the full championship against Darren Till.
Usman (15-1) is riding his own 14-fight winning streak, including capturing the UFC welterweight belt in a dominating five-round performance against Woodley at UFC 235. Usman and Covington clashed at the post-fight media events after Covington's win over Lawler. Covington -- who claims to be the true welterweight champ -- has branded Usman "Marty Fakenewsman" in keeping with his Trump-loving persona.
The bout is the third championship bout for the UFC's final pay-per-view of the year, joining Max Holloway's featherweight championship defense against Alexander Volkanovski and Amanda Nunes putting the women's bantamweight championship on the line against Germaine de Randamie. UFC 245 takes place Dec. 14 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The UFC attempted to make the championship bout the headliner for their return to MSG at UFC 244, but when they could not come to a bout agreement with the two fighters, they made a fight for the "BMF" title between Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz.
