UFC 267 - Blachowicz vs. Teixeira --- UFC Fight Night 197 - Holloway vs. Rodríguez
UFC 268: Usman vs. Covington 2 is an upcoming mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that will take place on November 6, 2021 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, United States.
Fight card
Main Card
Welterweight Kamaru Usman (c) vs. Colby Covington Welterweight Championship
Women's Strawweight Rose Namajunas (c) vs. Zhang Weili Women's Strawweight Championship
Lightweight Justin Gaethje vs. Michael Chandler
Featherweight Shane Burgos vs. Billy Quarantillo
Bantamweight Frankie Edgar vs. Marlon Vera
Preliminary card (ESPNews / ESPN+)
Middleweight Alex Pereira vs. Andreas Michailidis
Lightweight Al Iaquinta vs. Bobby Green
Middleweight Phil Hawes vs. Chris Curtis
Middleweight Edmen Shahbazyan vs. Nassourdine Imavov
Welterweight Ian Garry vs. Jordan Williams
Early preliminary card (ESPN+ / UFC Fight Pass)
Heavyweight Gian Villante vs. Chris Barnett
Flyweight CJ Vergara vs. Ode' Osbourne
Background
A UFC Welterweight Championship rematch between the current champion Kamaru Usman (also The Ultimate Fighter: American Top Team vs. Blackzilians welterweight winner) and former interim champion Colby Covington is scheduled for the event. Serving as the event headliner, they previously met at UFC 245 in December 2019, where Usman defended his title via fifth-round technical knockout.
A UFC Women's Strawweight Championship rematch between current two-time champion Rose Namajunas and former champion Zhang Weili is expected take place as the co-main event. They previously met at UFC 261, where Namajunas won the title via first-round knockout.
A women’s bantamweight bout between former UFC Women's Featherweight Champion Germaine de Randamie and Irene Aldana was expected to take place at the event. However, de Randamie withdrew in early September due to injury.
A middleweight bout between former Strikeforce and UFC Middleweight Champion Luke Rockhold and Sean Strickland was expected to take place at the event. However on October 11, Rockhold withdrew due to a herniated disc. It is unknown if a replacement will be sought or the matchup postponed.
Phil Hawes and Chris Curtis were expected to meet in a middleweight bout at UFC Fight Night: Dern vs. Rodriguez a month earlier, but due to Curtis being tapped as a replacement just a day before that event, Hawes declined the matchup. They are now expected to meet at this event.
A featherweight between Melsik Baghdasaryan and T.J. Laramie was scheduled for the event. However, Laramie was forced to pull out after he was diagnosed with a MRSA infection. He was replaced by promotional newcomer Bruno Souza.
A light heavyweight between Aleksa Camur and John Allan was scheduled for the event. However, Camur pulled out of the bout citing an undisclosed injury and was replaced by Dustin Jacoby.
