A “super” fight between Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight kingpin, Kamaru Usman. and Middleweight roost ruler, Israel Adesanya, would not come cheap.
Usman is currently preparing to defend his 170-pound title against rival Colby Covington at UFC 268, which will take place inside Madison Square Garden in New York City this weekend (Sat., Nov. 6, 2021), streaming online via ESPN+ pay-per-view (PPV). As Usman closes the gap between him and Georges St-Pierre in many fans' eyes as the all-time best welterweight, people are curious about Usman vs. Adesanya.
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MASSIVE MIDDLEWEIGHT MATCH! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) makes its highly anticipated return to Sydney, Australia, for the first time in five years on Sat., Sept. 9, 2023, with a 185-pound world title fight inside Qudos Bank Arena. In the ESPN+-streamed pay-per-view (PPV) main event, Middleweight roost-ruler, Israel Adesanya, plans to silence No. 5-seeded contender, Sean Strickland. In UFC 293’s hard-hitting Heavyweight co-main event, No-6-ranked fan favorite, Tai Tuivasa, locks horns with towering Russian, Alexander Volkov (No. 8).
“Adesanya is my guy, that’s something me and him would have to discuss. There’s a difference between fighting and competing,” Usman told ESPN during UFC 268 fight week (h/t LowKickMMA). “If me and him decide we want to compete, and the UFC is throwing $100 million at us, then we’ll make it happen.”
Usman previously expressed his hesitation toward fighting Adesanya in a 2020 interview with UFC commentator, comedian and podcast host, Joe Rogan.
“I don’t see myself ever fighting Israel even though a lot of people have hinted toward it,” Usman said the JRE MMA Show last year. “I don’t see myself fighting him. Having two belts in Nigeria is better than just having one guy hold two belts. There’s no desire there. That’s my guy. He’s special.”
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 268 fight card right here, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard balance on ESPNEWS/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 268: “Usman vs. Covington 2” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.
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