The Ultimate Fighting Championship is gearing up for another star-studded pay-per-view event, and this one is shaping up to be one of the biggest of the year. UFC 245: Usman vs. Covington features three high-stakes title bouts on the main card, with welterweight champion Kamaru Usman defending his belt against challenger Colby Covington as the headliner. UFC 245 will air live tonight, Saturday, December 14 via ESPN+ pay-per-view, and if you’re planning to watch all the action online this weekend, then read on to find out how.
ESPN+ is the sports broadcaster’s premium streaming service that offers fight-lovers a cornucopia of content from the UFC, Top Rank Boxing, and more. ESPN and the Ultimate Fighting Championship have developed a very close relationship in recent years, too, and ESPN+ is the only place you’ll find UFC pay-per-view events like UFC 245: Usman vs. Covington (at least for the foreseeable future). UFC 245 is notable for featuring three championship fights on its main card, so it’s no surprise that the fighting promotion reserved this event for pay-per-view.
Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington
The headlining matchup at UFC 245 is a welterweight bout featuring reigning champ Kamaru Usman, who is defending his title against Colby Covington. Both men are fiery fighters, and they share identical records of 15 wins and only one defeat each. Usman is something of a sleeper star in the world of MMA, and for a champion with a nearly perfect record (he has never been defeated in the UFC), the “Nigerian Nightmare” has largely flown under the radar so far. A big victory at UFC 245 is sure to put him on the favorites list of many fans around the world.
His opponent, Colby Covington, is UFC’s own home-grown “heel” of sorts (and he has no qualms about leaning into this role). Love him or hate him, however, few can deny that the American brawler is a skilled and entertaining fighter, and one who is in a good position to walk away from UFC 245 with a championship belt around his waist. The stakes are high for both combatants this weekend, and there’s no doubt that Usman and Covington will each be heading into the octagon prepared to give their all.
Max Holloway vs. Alexander Volkanovski
The co-main event is a featherweight title bout between defending champion Max Holloway (21-4) and Alexander Volkanovski (20-1), both of whom are well-established fighters with very impressive records. The Hawaii-born Holloway won the interim featherweight belt at UFC 212 in 2017 and has defended it since, but the American will find a fierce challenger in the Australian Volkanovski, who has not lost a fight since 2013 (and has never lost a match since signing on with the UFC). As with the headlining matchup between Usman and Covington, both fighters here are a match for each other, and both will be hungry for victory — Holloway to hold onto his belt, and Volkanovski to claim his first ever UFC title win.
Amanda Nunes vs. Germaine de Randamie
The third title matchup on the main card is a contest for the women’s bantamweight championship, with Amanda Nunes (18-4) defending her belt against up-and-comer Germaine de Randamie (9-3). Nunes is a rockstar in the UFC women’s bantamweight division has held and successfully defended her title since winning it in 2016. Nunes also notably holds the featherweight belt (having briefly moved up in weight to win that championship fight at UFC 232), making her the first female fighter to simultaneously hold two UFC titles. Dutch challenger Germaine de Randamie is the clear underdog here and definitely has her work cut out for her if she is to pull an upset victory at UFC 245.
As a pay-per-view event, UFC 245: Usman vs. Covington main card will air exclusively on ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET pm tonight, on Saturday, December 14 so now’s the time to sign up if you haven’t. The good news here is that if you’re doing so now, you can score this bundle deal that gets you a year of ESPN+ (a $50 value) along with the UFC 245 PPV (a $60 value) package for just $80, saving you $30.
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