UFC 268 Usman vs. Covington 2: Live results and analysis

by · ESPN

NEW YORK - Fights that are expected to be as violent as the one between Justin Gaethje and Michael Chandler sometimes underdeliver. Not this time. In fact, it was just the opposite.

In the most action-packed MMA fight of 2021, Gaethje defeated Chandler via unanimous decision (29-29, 29-28, 30-27) on the UFC 268 main card Saturday night at Madison Square Garden. Chandler rocked Gaethje in the first round. Gaethje nearly finished in the second, badly bloodying Chandler. And the third was a back-and-forth symphony of violence. Neither man gave an inch.

"I knew exactly who the f--- he was," Gaethje said in his postfight interview. "He's a warrior. We are living in the wrong times. He and I should have been fighting in the Colosseum. That's what should have happened."

ESPN has Gaethje ranked No. 3 and Chandler ranked No. 4 in the world at lightweight coming in. Gaethje has said all week that he believed he will have done enough for a title shot with a win. And he was the victor Saturday night.

"Of course," Gaethje said. "Who else?"

With the fans going back and forth chanting for both men, Chandler blasted Gaethje with a big combination in the first round, snapping his head back. Chandler flurried against the cage, but Gaethje survived in the onslaught. In the second round, it was Gaethje's turn. He dropped Chandler with an uppercut and attempted to finish on the ground. Chandler, bloodied and bruised, survived.

Chandler fired back with big combinations to the body in the third round. But the uppercut was there twice for Gaethje, doing major damage again. Still, Chandler kept coming forward - smiling, with blood pouring from his face and egging Gaethje on. Chandler was waving for Gaethje to come forward and even picked him up for a big slam, though Gaethje scrambled when they hit the ground and took Chandler's back.

Gaethje (23-3) has won five of six with the only loss during that time coming against then-champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. The Arizona native fighting out of Colorado had not been to decision since 2014 in World Series of Fighting. Gaethje, 32, had nine performance bonuses in eight UFC fights coming in and is a shoo-in for his 10th.

Chandler (22-7) has dropped two straight. In his last bout, the Missouri native, who fights out of Florida, fell in a vacant title fight to Charles Oliveira at UFC 262 in May. Chandler, 35, is the former three-time Bellator lightweight champion.

Gaethje-Chandler opened up the main card at UFC 268. Kamaru Usman defends his UFC welterweight title in a rematch against Colby Covington in the main event and Rose Namajunas defends her strawweight title against Zhang Weili in the co-main event. Plus, former lightweight champ Frankie Edgar meets Marlon "Chito" Vera in a bantamweight bout,

Follow along as Brett Okamoto, Marc Raimondi and Jeff Wagenheim recap all the action or watch the fights on ESPN+ PPV.


Fight in progress: Men's bantamweight: Frankie Edgar (23-9-1, 18-9-1 UFC, +135) vs. Marlon Vera (17-7-1, 11-6 UFC, -160)


Results:

Men's featherweight: Shane Burgos (14-3, 7-3 UFC) def. Billy Quarantillo (16-4, 4-2 UFC) by unanimous decision

Recap to come.


Middleweight: Alex Pereira (4-1, 1-0 UFC) def. Andreas Michailidis (13-5, 1-2 UFC) (Watch this fight on ESPN+)

It was a good night for UFC newcomers -- Pereira perhaps most of all.

The former GLORY kickboxing champion knocked out Michailidis with a devastating flying knee 18 seconds into the second round. Pereira, 34, from Brazil, landed the knee as Michailidis reached forward for a clinch. All four of Pereira's wins in MMA have come via knockout.

Pereira signed with the UFC this year to much fanfare. He holds two victories over UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya from their days in professional kickboxing. Michailidis won the first round by taking Pereira down and neutralizing his standup with grappling, but Pereira seemed unbothered.

Michailidis drops to 1-2 in the UFC.


Lightweight: Bobby Green (28-12-1, 9-7-1 UFC) def. Al Iaquinta (14-7-1, 9-6 UFC) by first-round TKO (Watch this fight on ESPN+)

Bobby Green recorded his first knockout win in eight years (to the day) in his victory over Al Iaquinta. Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

The chants that resonated throughout the Garden -- "I-a-QUIN-ta! I-a-QUIN-ta! -- had barely morphed into fans roaring every time their local guy closed in on Green against the cage.

Then Green responded, landing a quick one-two that dropped Iaquinta. Green pounced with more punches, prompting referee Marc Goddard to push him off his fallen foe for the TKO at 3:25.

Green, who is 35 and from Fontana, California, broke out of a two-fight losing streak with an explosive finish.

Iaquinta, a 34-year-old from nearby Wantagh, New York, has lost four of his last five fights. The skid began with a 2018 bout in which Khabib Nurmagomedov won the vacant UFC lightweight title.


Middleweight: Chris Curtis (27-8, 1-0 UFC) def. Phil Hawes (11-3, 3-1 UFC) by first-round KO (Watch this fight on ESPN+)

For 12 years, Curtis toiled mostly on the regional circuit, one day hoping to get signed by the UFC. Last month, it finally happened. And now Curtis has his first UFC victory to boot.

The MMA veteran stopped Hawes via knockout at 4:27 of the first round in a bout he was handily losing up until that point. Hawes stepped in for a left hand and dropped his other hand, allowing Curtis to snap off a slick left hook and put Hawes on jelly legs. Curtis followed up on the ground with punches until referee Todd Anderson pulled him off.

"I wish you guys knew," Curtis said in his postfight interview. "I wish I was here for about 10 years now. I beat so many people -- I just never got that chance."

Curtis, 34, has won six straight following a wild PFL playoff appearance in 2019. Curtis lost to Magomed Magomedkerimov in the PFL welterweight quarterfinals, then announced his retirement. But an alternate was needed for later in that night for the semifinals and Curtis was tabbed. It was one of the shortest retirements in MMA history, and Curtis lost in that second fight as well.

The Ohio-born Curtis, fighting out of Las Vegas, was signed by the UFC last month on short notice to fight Hawes, but Hawes declined to fight him at the last minute and the match was rescheduled.

"I'm here," Curtis said. "But guys, I can't tell you. I've given up 14 years of my life for this. I've missed my son's birthdays. ... And now I get to make my UFC debut at Madison Square Garden."

The 32-year-old, New Jersey-born Hawes, fighting out of Florida, had a seven-fight winning streak snapped. -- Raimondi


Middleweight: Nassourdine Imavov (11-3, 3-1 UFC) def. Edmen Shahbazyan (11-3, 4-3 UFC) by second-round TKO (Watch this fight on ESPN+)

France's Imavov badly wanted to take Shahbazyan's neck home with him, but ultimately settled for a TKO instead.

The 25-year-old middleweight repeatedly looked to secure a guillotine in the first two rounds against Shahbazyan, but couldn't quite secure the finish. In the final minute of the second round, Imavov moved to a crucifix position and dropped elbows until referee Keith Peterson stopped the fight at the 4:42 mark.

It was a decisive finish to a very back-and-forth fight. Shahbazyan, who suffered his third consecutive defeat, did well with leg kicks early and nearly secured his own guillotine attempt in the second round. Imavov's grappling proved to be a step ahead, however, and he also had some success in boxing exchanges.

Shahbazyan went into 2020 on a wave of momentum, but has now lost to Derek Brunson, Jack Hermansson and Imavov. -- Okamoto


Welterweight: Ian Garry (8-0, 1-0 UFC) def. Jordan Williams (9-6, 0-3 UFC) by first-round KO (Watch this fight on ESPN+)

The undefeated Garry's UFC debut was not going so well. The 23-year-old Irishman's face was reddened from absorbing several punches as the final seconds of the first round ticked off the clock. Then Williams, who is 31 and from Englewood, Colorado, tried to punctuate the round with one final left hand. He missed.

Garry returned fire and did not miss. He stepped back to avoid the punch and unleashed a counter right hand that connected on the button and dropped Williams in his tracks. Referee Mike Beltran jumped right in to declare it a knockout at 4:59.

Afterward, Garry spoke about being a future champ with all the boldness of another Irish fighter. The former Cage Warriors champion even quoted Conor McGregor's most famous line: "We're not here to take part; we're here to take over."

Then Garry offered an addendum: "This is the takeover, Part 2." -- Wagenheim

Heavyweight: Chris Barnett (22-7, 1-1 UFC) def. Gian Villante (17-14, 7-11 UFC) by second-round TKO (Watch this fight on ESPN+)

Barnett probably won't win a fitness competition any time soon, but "Beast Boy" can put together a highlight-reel finish in the cage -- that's for sure.

Barnett dropped Villante with a wicked spinning hook kick to the head and followed on the ground for a TKO victory at 2:23 of the second round. After the finish, Barnett did a front flip and landed butt first on the canvas as a celebration. Barnett is the first UFC heavyweight fighter to win via a spinning kick, per ESPN Stats & Information.

"My f---ing heel is killing me," Barnett said after the fight. "My man has the head of a cinderblock. My foot is on fire right now."

During that interview, Barnett praised the New York-born Villante in his final UFC fight. Before the finish, Barnett and Villante were trading hard kicks to the body and legs for the better part of two rounds. Barnett said he figured he had to switch it up with something flashy because Villante was matching him kick for kick.

Barnett, 35, picked up his first UFC victory on Saturday. Born in Spain and fighting out of Florida, he made his UFC debut in May after 12 years as a pro fighter in multiple disciplines all over the world. Villante, a 36-year-old Long Islander, has dropped four straight, the last three after moving up to heavyweight from light heavyweight. -- Raimondi


Light heavyweight: Dustin Jacoby (16-5-1, 4-2-1 UFC) def. John Allan (13-7 1 NC, 0-2 1NC UFC) by unanimous decision (Watch this fight on ESPN+)

Dustin Jacoby, left, took a fight against John Allan on late notice and won -- extending his UFC record to 4-0-1. Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Jacoby, of Colorado, cruised to an easy win on the scorecards, following a slow 15-minute affair. The 33-year-old took the fight on short notice, but had no problem picking at Allan from range with jabs and front kicks. Jacoby rarely threw anything behind the distance strikes though, and never appeared to have Allan hurt.

Despite the fact he was at a clear disadvantage, Allan, of Curitiba, Brazil, didn't appear to have a backup plan or just wasn't capable of executing one. He continued to fight Jacoby at range and had very few moments of success offensively.

Jacoby remains unbeaten in the UFC. He is 4-0-1 since signing with the promotion last year. -- Okamoto


Men's featherweight: Melsik Baghdasaryan (7-1, 2-0 UFC) def. Bruno Souza (10-2, 0-1 UFC ) by unanimous decision (Watch this fight on ESPN+)

Melsik Baghdasaryan, left, won his seventh straight fight and pushed his UFC record to 2-0 against Bruno Souza. Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

On the night before the New York City Marathon, these two fighters put in the miles, circling each other inside the cage for the better part of 15 minutes. Baghdasaryan was in pursuit, but unable to land a whole lot, though his leg kicks and occasional flurries were enough to earn him the 29-28 nod on all three scorecards.

For Baghdasaryan, who is 29 and from Glendale, California, it was his seventh win in a row, including his last two in the UFC. He just never was able to cut off the cage on his elusive opponent.

Souza, a 25-year-old Brazilian who fights out of Los Angeles, saw a 10-fight winning streak come to an end in a fight in which he avoided significant damage, but did not mount much offense. -- Wagenheim


Men's flyweight: Ode' Osbourne (10-4, 2-2 UFC) def. C.J. Vergara (9-3-1, 0-1 UFC) by unanimous decision (Watch this fight on ESPN+)

Ode' Osbourne,right, opened the action at UFC 268 with a unanimous decision victory over C.J. Vergara. Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

No, Osbourne didn't exactly end the fight in spectacular fashion. Vergara was on top, landing ground and pound until the bell.

But Osbourne did enough early to earn a unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) in the UFC 268 opener. Simply, Osbourne landed the harder blows in the first and second rounds. In the first, he blasted Vergara with some solid combinations and that continued in the second with Osbourne landing a sneaky left hand. In the third, Osbourne started hot with combinations, but seemed to tire and Vergara stole momentum with a takedown and top position.

Osbourne, 29, is now 2-2 in the UFC. The Jamaica-born Osbourne, who fights out of Milwaukee, is a Dana White's Contender Series alum. Vergara, a 30-year-old Texan, was making his UFC debut. He missed weight by 1.4 pounds Friday. -- Raimondi


Still to come:

Welterweight championship: Kamaru Usman (c) (19-1, 14-0 UFC, -310) vs. Colby Covington (16-2, 11-2 UFC, +250)
Strawweight championship: Rose Namajunas (c) (11-4, 8-3 UFC, -105) vs. Zhang Weili (21-2, 5-1 UFC, -115)

(c) = defending champion