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10 reasons to watch UFC 245: Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington

By Raphael Garcia

NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 01: (L-R) Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington face off during the UFC 245 press conference at the Hulu Theatre at Madison Square Garden on November 1, 2019 in New York, New York. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 01: (L-R) Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington face off during the UFC 245 press conference at the Hulu Theatre at Madison Square Garden on November 1, 2019 in New York, New York. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NY – NOVEMBER 01: UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman poses on stage during the UFC 245 press conference at the Hulu Theatre at Madison Square Garden on November 1, 2019 in New York, New York. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – NOVEMBER 01: UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman poses on stage during the UFC 245 press conference at the Hulu Theatre at Madison Square Garden on November 1, 2019 in New York, New York. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images) /

Kamaru Usman: The opportunity to be the hero

Kamaru Usman is stepping into UFC 245 to defend the welterweight title for the first time. After dominating Tyron Woodley at UFC 235, Usman put himself at the top of a division that is teaming with contenders. At the same time, he stepped into a role to play the “hero” of sorts to the foil that has become Colby Covington. While some might smirk at Covington’s antics, there’s a loud segment of MMA fans that want to see him silenced once and for all. Usman can capitalize on that sentiment if he picks up a big win in Saturday’s main event.

The question around this fight is how the styles will play out. Usman is mostly a wrestler first who takes his opponents down or positions them against the cage to batter them with shots. Covington is a volume striker looking to overwhelm his opponent wherever the fight occurs; leveraging takedowns to gain positions of control as needed. This bout may seem like the wrestler versus wrestler archetype of battles in the past, but there’s much more nuance when diving into where these two men do their best work.

Usman has a heavy load in front of him if he’s going to successfully defend the UFC title. A victory and a rousing post-fight press conference can go a long way into building Usman up as a champion that people want to see. But in order to play the hero, he must first overcome public enemy number one in Covington.

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