“The Nigerian Nightmare”, Kamaru Usman, Beats Colby Covington To Retain UFC Welterweight Championship Belt

Nigeria’s Kamaru Usman, in the early hours of Sunday, defeated Colby Covington courtesy of a fifth-round knockout to retain his UFC welterweight title at UFC 245 in Las Vegas, Nevada.⁣
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The ‘Nigerian Nightmare’ stopped Covington in the final round after multiple knockdowns, in a contest that saw the two elite wrestlers strike throughout.⁣
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The win took Usman’s mixed martial arts record to 16-1-0 (11-0 in the UFC) while Covington, who was previously interim champion of the division, dropped to 15-2-0.

Covington, in the build-up to the fight, showed little respect towards Usman, using uncomplimentary words, and even predicting it would be “an easy fight for me.”

He even insulted Usman’s Nigerian heritage, saying: “How is he more American than me? My family has served in the Korean War, in the Vietnam War; my family has shed blood for that flag, for the red, white and blue of America. What has his family ever done for America beside serve in the Federal penitentiary?”

He added: “He’s out here claiming to be the first Nigerian-born, African champion. He was born in Dallas. He went to college in Nebraska. He was wiping the mats at the Olympic training centre in Colorado, and now he lives in Boca Raton (Florida). There ain’t no Nigerian nightmares in Boca. The only things in Boca are early bird specials.”