UFC 268 takes place on Saturday night from the historic Madison Square Garden in New York City. The biggest bout lands in the main event where bitter rivals Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington battle for a second time with the welterweight title on the line.
There could be fireworks once again when Rose Namajuans and Weili Zhang meet in the co-main event after "Thug Rose" scored a vicious head kick knockout in April. The loss snapped a 20-fight win streak for Zhang, who had been nothing short of dominant in her run prior to the loss. She scored a decision win over Joanna Jedrzejcyzk in March 2020 in a fight that soundly won Fight of the Year honors. Now, she looks for immediate revenge in the same arena where Namajunas first earned gold four years ago.
Not to be outdone, a major lightweight clash kicks things off with Justin Gaethje and Michael Chandler battling it out. Gaethje previously held the interim lightweight title before falling at the hands of Khabib Nurmagomedov, who retired immediately after the bout. With the title open and fresh off an explosive debut, Chandler battled Charles Oliveira in May but came up short in his quest to win a major promotional title for a fourth time.
Clearly, it's easy to get lost in the minutiae of a big event. So we're here to help give you a concise outlook of what to expect and what to know for every main card fight along with odds from Caesars Sportsbook. Let's take a closer look at what to expect on Saturday.
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Main card
Marlon Vera vs. Frankie Edgar, bantamweight
- Odds: Vera -180, Edgar +155 | Last three results: Vera - W,L,W | Edgar - L,W,L
- Vera: A big-time finisher who has 14 stoppages in 17 career victories
- Edgar: A former lightweight champion and multi-time featherweight title challenger now fighting at bantamweight
Edgar (24-9-1) entered his April 2010 fight with then-lightweight champion B.J. Penn considered a good fighter but not someone ready to dethrone a lightweight great like Penn. Despite being a more than +600 underdog, Edgar won that fight and became lightweight champion. More than a decade later, Edgar is still fighting in the UFC and still sitting as an underdog. Edgar is now a bantamweight after a lengthy stint at featherweight where he failed to win the 145-pound title in three chances. He is 1-3 in his four most recent fights, however, with two of those losses coming via first-round stoppage. Vera (17-7-1) picked up serious momentum in August 2020 when he scored a TKO of highly-regarded prospect Sean O'Malley. He lost to Jose Aldo in his next outing but rebounded with a win over Davey Grant in June. Vera has 14 stoppages in 17 career victories but has never been stopped, with all seven of his losses coming on the judges' scorecards.
Shane Burgos vs. Billy Quarantillo, featherweight
- Odds: Burgos -200, Quarantillo +170 | Last three results: Burgos - L,L,W | Quarantillo - W,L,W
- Burgos: On a two-fight losing skid after a 6-1 start to his UFC career
- Quarantillo: 9-1 with seven stoppages in his 10 most recent fights
Burgos (13-3) got off to a great start in his UFC career, winning six of his first seven fights with the lone loss coming against Calvin Kattar. With that level of success comes an increase in level of competition. That has led to a rocky stretch for Burgos as he lost to Josh Emmett by decision before a knockout loss to Edson Barboza. Both of those losses came in bouts that earned Burgos Fight of the Night bonuses. Quarantillo (16-3) is coming off his own Fight of the Night effort, scoring a third-round TKO against Gabriel Benítez in July. That victory was a bounce-back performance for Quarantillo after suffering his first UFC loss when he dropped a decision to Gavin Tucker. Quarantillo has a solid spread of finishes with seven knockouts, five submissions and four decisions in his career.
Justin Gaethje vs. Michael Chandler, lightweight
- Odds: Gaethje -200, Chandler +170 | Last three results: Gaethje - L,W,W | Chandler - L,W,W
- Gaethje: Former interim lightweight champion with nine performance bonuses in eight UFC fights
- Chandler: Former multi-time Bellator champion who was inches from the UFC lightweight title in his last fight
The fight between Gaethje and Chandler may be the most anticipated non-title fight of the year. Gaethje (22-3) has not fought since October 2020 when he lost the interim lightweight title in a unification bout with then-champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. Since leaving WSOF as their longtime champion and signing with the UFC, Gaethje has lived up to every bit of his reputation as an all-action fighter. In eight trips to the Octagon, Gaethje has won nine performance bonuses for either Fight of the Night or Performance of the Night. Chandler is a former three-time Bellator lightweight champion who made his UFC debut in January, knocking out Dan Hooker and earning a shot at the lightweight title vacated by Nurmagomedov. Chandler was on the verge of capturing the title by stopping Charles Oliveira in the first round of their fight but was knocked out in the second round. This is a matchup of two very similar fighters -- wrestlers turned strikers with explosive knockout power -- and promises to be a great fight.
Rose Namajunas (c) vs. Weili Zhang, women's strawweight title
- Odds: Namajunas -110, Zhang -110 | Last three results: Namajunas - W,W,L | Zhang - L,W,W
- Namajunas: A fan-favorite and the first woman in UFC history to regain a championship she lost previously
- Zhang: Coming off a knockout to Namajunas that snapped a 21-fight winning streak
Zhang (21-2) entered UFC 261 in April as the women's strawweight champion, riding a 21-fight winning streak since losing her professional debut. It took just 78 seconds for everything to come crashing down. Namajunas landed a head kick that sent Zhang crashing to the mat and the first UFC title reign for a Chinese fighter was over. Zhang will be looking to get back to the form she showed in knocking out Jessica Andrade to capture the title and in her Fight of the Year effort against Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Namajunas (10-4) doesn't have the most impressive looking record at first glance. Breaking down her resume, however, you see that she has fought almost nothing but the top names in the division every time out. After beating Jedrzejczyk to win the strawweight title the first time around, and retaining the title in the rematch, Namajunas suffered a brutal slam knockout at the hands of Andrade in 2019. After nearly retiring, Namajunas came back to take a split decision against Andrade and win the title from Zhang.
Kamaru Usman (c) vs. Colby Covington, welterweight championship
- Odds: Usman -330, Covington +260 | Last three results: Usman - W,W,W | Covington - W,L,W
- Usman: One of the greatest welterweights ever, Usman has added one-punch power to his wrestling
- Covington: A brash, controversial fighter with a high-output style
Covington (16-2) talked near-record amounts of trash leading to his first fight with Usman, pushing well past the boundaries of good taste while vowing to end Usman's reign. The two men went punch-for-punch in an all-out war that ended when Covington was stopped in the fifth round. Since that night in December 2019, Covington has only fought once, stopping a badly faded version of Tyron Woodley in September 2020. His high-output style has been hard for any opponent to deal with over the past several years and he'll look to overwhelm Usman this time around.
Usman (19-1) is riding an 18-fight winning streak. While he has always been impressive, Usman has significantly upped his game since the Covington fight. Building on his wrestling base, Usman added technical boxing -- largely based around an effective jab -- and serious one-punch power. That power was most recently on display in his rematch with Jorge Masvidal where Usman dominated the striking before a crushing second-round knockout. Since the first fight with Covington, Usman has fought three times, beating Masvidal twice and also knocking out Gilbert Burns.
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