UFC 268: Usman, Covington Set For Vicious Showdown This Sunday On DStv!
Customers on DStv Compact Plus can look forward to watching the Ultimate Fighting Championship action as UFC 268 takes centre stage at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Sunday, 7 November 2021. The Prelims will air live from 1 am on SuperSport Action (DStv channel 210), while the Main Card will air live from 3 am on SuperSport Grandstand and SuperSport Action (DStv channel 201 & 210).
Our viewers on DStv can see all their favourite fighters from the African continent and around the world strutting their stuff in the UFC. To view the fight, download the MyDStv app to subscribe or upgrade to the Compact Plus package or set up Auto-Renewal to stay connected without interruptions.
This titanic event will feature a double bill of title rematches, as Nigerian-American Kamaru Usman faces Colby Covington and Rose Namajunas takes on Weili Zhang.
The main event sees Usman (16-1) come up against Covington (16-2) for the welterweight title. The former defeated ‘Chaos’ via TKO in the fifth round of their epic championship bout in December 2019, and has since successfully defended the belt a further three times, defeating Jorge Masvidal (twice) and Gilbert Burns.
Usman, in the build-up to the fight, has revealed his respect for Covington’s abilities in the Octagon – even if the latter is renowned, and even reviled, for being one of MMA’s true ‘heels’.
“I’m no hater. I give props where props are due,” said Usman. “I think Colby probably is, I would put him in the top-15 welterweights of all time, as far as fighter-wise and skill-wise, the way that he fights. You may not like him personally, which I really don’t, but as far as skill-wise, he’s a very good fighter. A very, very good fighter.”
Namajunas (10-4) defeated Zhang (21-2) via a first-round knockout to claim the women’s strawweight championship at UFC 261 back in April of this year. Chinese star Zhang, who has teamed up with former flyweight and bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo in preparation for this clash, has steeled herself for a more aggressive approach in this co-main event and believes the pressure of holding the belt will affect Namajunas.
“After the fight everybody was surprised by the result. Then Dana [White, UFC president] said there might be a rematch,” explained Zhang. “The mentality I had before was to go there and learn from each other. Then I went and found out it wasn’t like that at all.
“So I think I need to take it really seriously now, see the fight like a war. In there, you can’t be distracted even for 0.01 seconds, whether it’s just before the fight or in camp. Last time, there were all kinds of factors. I think this time I would focus more on myself instead of watching the outside stuff.
“After our first fight, my coach kept telling me that the next will mostly be about mental game. At this level, we’re all close technically. It’s all about who is more mentally steady. I think for the rematch; her psychological pressure might be greater than mine.”
The main card opens with a bantamweight bout between Frankie Edgar and Marlon Vera, followed by Shane Burgos vs Billy Quarantillo in a featherweight thriller, and then Justin Gaethje and Michael Chandler will both be looking to put themselves back in the lightweight title picture with victory.
