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UFC 245: Usman vs Covington - Dec 14 🇺🇸


wandshogun09

Who wins and how?   

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Not sure how that main event came across on television, but I was honestly shocked by how much of a crowd favourite Colby was. Usman was getting booed by a lot of the crowd during his entrance, and there were solid chants of "Colby! Colby!" during the fight. He's nowhere near as disliked as I imagined he would be.

The belief that he actually fought on for two more rounds with a "broken freakin' jaw!" seemed to win a lot of people to his side. The rumblings from fans here after the event in the bars and the night after as well is that even the people who don't like his schtick have become fans of his after that performance.

One thing that occurred to me at the weigh ins was how small he looked at 170lbs compared to someone like Usman, and seeing the likes of Holloway etc, I started wondering if he could ever make 155lbs? 

The fight itself was all kinds of awesome. I had it close going into the final frame. 2-2. Even without that stoppage I would have had Usman taking the last round by a 10-8. I think the broken jaw was starting to wear on Covington, and some of the shots he was taking had people wincing. But he kept on going. The guy is a fucking warrior, and if I'm honest I don't really see anyone else beating him in the division outside of Usman, and I could even see them trading wins if Colby was able to avoid any serious injury during the fight. Without that broken jaw it would likely have been a hell of a lot closer.

My opinion of him has softened a bit after seeing him go about his pre-fight business, and after meeting him briefly. As mentioned, he appreciated the guys in the t-shirts at the fan event, and while getting a picture with him among a small group of fans at the Trump he commented on my accent, saying "wow, thanks for coming out man, we all appreciate it." Someone in the crowd piped up "even the snowflakes?" with a bit of a laugh, and he said "everyone man, we put on a show for all of you guys, and we all appreciate every one of you who spends money to come see us do what we do."

It's actually hard to hate the guy having had those interactions. He was nothing but a class act to everyone he met, and was easily the most popular fighter on the card. 

As for him only being a star in MMA circles, again, I'm not so sure. He's not a household name by any stretch (but then no UFC fighter is. Even McGregor isn't a mainstream star despite what we may think living inside the bubble), but being "the Trump guy" has certainly helped him find some eyeballs outside the MMA circle. 

Another thing that has me rather bemused is just how fucking popular Trump is out here. There's actual shops in Vegas that sell his campaign stuff. I would be a liar if I said I didn't buy one of those goofy red hats as a keepsake, but there's a lot more people wearing his badges and shit like that than I thought there would be. How we feel about him in the UK doesn't seem to quite match up to how he's regarded here in some parts of the US. Obviously I haven't been all over, but in Nevada he seems like a fairly popular character. It's surreal.

Yeah, anyway, I have plenty of observations, but I've rambled enough. Great show, great fun, great week.

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Interesting read @David - even if I still think he's a complete cock, it's fascinating to hear differing perspectives with more substance behind them than "MAGA!! LET'S GO COLBY USA USA USA".

Did you get to meet any other fighters over the course of the week?

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1 hour ago, AdamTH17 said:

Did you get to meet any other fighters over the course of the week?

Yeah, I met Valentina Shevchenko, Max Holloway, GDR, Volkanovski, and Mike Brown, along with Covington. All of them were as pleasant as you could want, even though they were obviously going through weight cuts, or were there as support and coaching with their fighters.

Sadly, the McGregor vs Cerrone fight is the weekend after I leave, meaning I'm not even here for the fight week stuff. If I'd known that fight was happening before I came here i'd have extended a bit and stayed on for that.

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There are countless accounts of Colby being sound when he drops the gimmick and is himself. Maybe everyone has a point.

As the dust settles on this, you realise it's the sort of fight where both fighters star rose a little higher. Obviously Usman proved he's the best in his division, while Colby showed he's more than a hat and a cheap suit.

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2 minutes ago, ColinBollocks said:

I love Henry Cejudo. Olympic Gold cringe right there; like Kurt Angle.

He's also correct. What a fine head of hair.

If you like hair that's been exported from Denmark.

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