Get Instant News Updates
Enable
x
Notification Settings X
Time Settings
Done
Clear Notification X
Do you want to clear all the notifications from your inbox?
Settings X
For Quick Alerts
ALLOW NOTIFICATIONS  
For Daily Alerts

UFC 245: Usman vs. Covington preview, fight card, India time and where to watch

After witnessing a knockout in the final round of last week's main event in DC, the Ultimate Fighting Championship moves to its base in Las Vegas to host the penultimate event of 2019.

Bengaluru, December 12: After witnessing a knockout in the final round of last week's main event in DC, the Ultimate Fighting Championship moves to its base in Las Vegas to host the penultimate event of 2019.

UFC 245 will feature three blockbuster world championship bouts, first up a highly anticipated welterweight championship grudge match, in which Kamaru Usman defends against No. 2 ranked contender Colby Covington in the main event.

In the co-main event we will see featherweight champion and No. 7 ranked pound-for-pound fighter Max Holloway go for his fourth successful defense against powerhouse No. 1 contender Alexander Volkanovski.

In the third title bout of the event, women's bantamweight and featherweight champion, as well as No. 5 ranked pound-for-pound fighter, Amanda Nunes will look put her 135-pound belt on the line in a rematch with former women's featherweight titleholder and No. 1 ranked bantamweight Germaine de Randamie.

Also on the main card, features a couple of bantamweight fights as Marlon Moares meets veteran Jose Aldo, and Urijah Faber goes up against Petr Yan.

In the preliminary card, we will see the likes of Brandon Moreno, Mike Perry, Irene Aldana, Geoff Neal, Ketlen Vieira, Ian Heinisch, Omari Akhmedov, Matt Brown, Ben Saunders, Daniel Teymur, Kai Kara-France, Jessica Eye and Oskar Piechota in action.

Here is all you need to know about UFC 245:

Venue, Date, Start Time and Telecast information

When and where is UFC 245 taking place?

The event takes place on Saturday (December 14) at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Due to time difference the event will take place on Sunday (December 15) morning in India.

What time does UFC 245 start?

The preliminary card starts at 4.45 AM IST (December 15); 11.15 PM GMT (December 14); 3.15 PM Local Time (December 14). The main card, meanwhile, starts at 8.30 AM IST (December 15); 3 AM GMT (December 15); 5 PM Local Time (December 14).

Where to watch UFC 245?

Watch UFC 245 featuring Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington Live and Exclusive in India on 15th December 2019 from 08:30 am (IST) on SONY TEN 2 & SONY TEN 2 HD (English), SONY TEN 3 SD & SONY TEN 3 HD (Hindi).

The preliminary card, however, can only be streamed using UFC Fight Pass in India.

UFC 245: Usman vs. Covington will stream live nationally on Pay-Per-View, exclusively through ESPN+ in the U.S. in both English and Spanish. ESPN+ is the exclusive provider of all UFC Pay-Per-View events to fans in the U.S.

Usman vs Covington preview

Kamaru Usman

Kamaru "The Nigerian Nightmare" Usman enters with an unbeatable 10-0 record in the UFC with 14 consecutive victories overall. The former NCAA Division II national champion from the University of Nebraska is still remembered for that iconic fight with Tyron Woodley, where he was seen dragging Woodley relentlessly to the canvas, claiming his victory over the title. With his long, rangy frame and his 76" reach, ‘The Nigerian Nightmare' has always been ultra-skilled and suave with his world-class performance. He is known to use his strengths well to his advantage by hitting his opponents with heavy punches leaving a tremendous impact on the fight.

Critics have noticed that both the men are known to fight in a similar fashion where their whole game is built around pressure. However, having said that, Usman has never been taken down in the history of UFC - even by Woodley, and possess some supernatural strength, which is predicted to give a very tough time to Covington in the octagon.

Colby Covington

Balancing the scale, we have Colby "Chaos" Covington who has been one of those few showing a similarly bottomless gas tank while racking up seven consecutive victories of his own, including back-to-back defeats of Rafael Dos Anjos and Robbie Lawler. The former All-American Division I and a two-time Pac-10 Conference champion still possess exceptional talent and hard striking force promising power-packed entertainment every time he steps in the octagon.

According to critics, neither Usman nor Covington is a pure wrestler in the mold of saying as both the men tend to use their cardio which forces their opponents to back up. Colby as compared to Usman, undoubtedly has a better leg work, forcing his opponents to be fed a steady diet of punches and elbows when on the ground, but does not have the greatest defence.

Ideally, ‘Chaos' has never faced an opponent who has been able to stop his takedown or those wild strikes but practically, if Covington can't deploy his pressure game right, the ‘Nigerian Nightmare' is going to be hard to stop with his pretty crude striking arsenal. However, given the similarities in styles and approach, it's going to be interesting to see which one of these two welterweight standouts end up taking the lead and dictating the terms of engagement.

Holloway vs Volkanovski preview

Alexander Volkanovski

Heading into his bout with Chad Mendes last December, Alexander "The Great" Volkanovski was seen commenting about his unhappiness over Holloway's recent comment of having ‘no real challengers left' at featherweight and potentially departing for lightweight division. This was enough to light the spark which will convert into some fire shots at the octagon over the weekend.

Having dispatched Mendes along with that unanimous decision win over Jose Aldo, the former rugby man has extended his winning streak to 17 and is all geared up to challenge Holloway for the featherweight strap at UFC 245.

It would be very interesting to see both of them together inside the cage, as Holloway is a master of range in every possible way, but Volkanovski, on the other hand, has a longer reach- 71.5" to the champion's 69", which can really turn the tables. If "The Great" can get inside and rough Holloway up in the clinch by using his wrestling game, Volkanovski can really put him at his back. However the critics say that ‘Alexander the Great' is a more nuanced striker who hits harder, but he's still a shorter fighter attempting to get into range against a man who is the absolute best at finding angles to unload heavy combinations on his opponents without slowing down at all.

Max Holloway

The second title fight on UFC 245 is here as Max "Blessed" Holloway will be looking to defend his Featherweight title for the fourth time against an undefeated challenger- Alexander Volkanovski. The fighter, who recently faced his share of defeat from Dustin Poirier, actually balanced his records by jabbing his way to a clear-cut decision over veteran Frankie Edgar earlier this year.

The master of range primarily uses his footwork to open up on his opponents from angles that they may not expect. Yes, as his name indicates, he's absolutely ‘blessed', with a preternatural tendency where he exactly knows when to turn up the heat on his opponent. However, he also has an insanely tough chin where he's more than willing to take a hard shot and has never been stopped by strikes despite facing the likes of Poirier, Aldo, and Conor McGregor.

This one is a tricky one to pick as both men are highly skilled in all areas along with an abode of knowledge of their competitor's strength. The fans can expect nothing less than fireworks as the best fight their way to glory inside the Octagon this weekend.

Nunes vs De Randamie 2 preview

The greatest women's fighter in mixed martial arts history, Nunes won her first encounter with De Randamie via TKO in 2013. Her resume also includes first-round stoppage wins over former bantamweight champions Ronda Rousey, Miesha Tate and Holly Holm. Nunes also became the first female two-division titleholder in UFC history last December with a 51-second KO victory against Cris Cyborg. She now hopes to etch her fifth bantamweight title defense in dominant fashion.

Former UFC featherweight champion De Randamie is gunning for a measure of revenge against Nunes. Since that loss, she has won five straight with dominant victories over Raquel Pennington, Holly Holm and Larissa Pacheco. In July, De Randamie delivered a spectacular 16-second TKO win against Aspen Ladd. She now aims to become the second woman to win UFC championships in two divisions by handing Nunes her first loss in over five years.

Scheduled fight card for UFC 245

Main Card

1. Welterweight title bout: Kamaru Usman (c) vs. Colby Covington

2. Featherweight title bout: Max Holloway (c) vs. Alexander Volkanovski

3. Women's Bantamweight bout: Amanda Nunes (c) vs. Germaine de Randamie

4. Bantamweight bout: Marlon Moraes vs. Jose Aldo

5. Bantamweight bout: Petr Yan vs. Urijah Faber

Preliminary Card

1. Welterweight bout: Geoff Neal vs. Mike Perry

2. Women's Bantamweight bout: Ketlen Vieira vs. Irene Aldana

3. Middleweight bout: Ian Heinisch vs. Omari Akhmedov

4. Welterweight bout: Matt Brown vs. Ben Saunders

5. Featherweight bout: Chase Hooper vs. Daniel Teymur

6. Flyweight bout: Brandon Moreno vs. Kai Kara-France

7. Women's Flyweight bout: Jessica Eye vs. Viviane Araujo

8. Middleweight bout: Punahele Soriano vs. Oskar Piechota

Story first published: Saturday, December 14, 2019, 11:54 [IST]
Other articles published on Dec 14, 2019