UFC 245 Results: Kamaru Usman, Amanda Nunes Retain Titles

Kamaru Usman showed why his striking is just a little bit ahead of the game, fending off the challenge of Colby Covington to defend his UFC welterweight title Saturday night at UFC 245.

Usman and Covington capped off a three-title fight event from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with a bout sure to gain some late momentum for “Fight of the Year.”

In the fifth and final round, Usman dropped Covington twice, forcing the ref to call a stop to the contest with less than a minute to go.

Despite both men having extensive wrestling backgrounds, neither showed any desire to make it a ground match.

In the third, Covington told his corner that he believed his jaw to be broken.

Alexander Volkanovski showed why many believed he was a soon-to-be champion, doing just that with a convincing decision victory over Max Holloway.

Volkanovski swept all three scorecards, becoming the UFC featherweight champion in the process.

The 31-year-old, coming off wins over Jose Aldo, Chad Mendes and Darren Elkins, improved to 21-1 with the decision win. He is now 8-0 since signing with the UFC and has not lost since 2013.

For Holloway, the defeat was his second in three fights around a victory over Frankie Edgar in a title defense earlier this year. He also lost to Dustin Poirier for the interim lightweight belt in April.

In the first title fight of the night, Amanda Nunes successfully earned her fifth bantamweight defense, besting former champion Germaine de Randamie via decision.

Nunes, who also holds the women’s featherweight belt, swept the three scorecards.

The challenger, though, gave her quite the scare with a submission attempt in the fourth. Nunes was able to fend off the attack.

Former World Series of Fighting champion Marlon Moraes denied Jose Aldo in his bantamweight debut, scoring a split decision.

Aldo, a former UFC featherweight champion, decided to move down and took on a top contender in his first fight at the new weight. Moraes, though, was able to withstand the offense of Aldo and earn the win.

Petr Yan kicked off the main card in impressive fashion, delivering a third-round head-kick knockout to Urijah Faber. A former title contender, Faber was hoping to make it 2-for-2 upon ending his retirement.

Instead, Yan scored the biggest win of his career and positioned himself in the bantamweight division as a title contender.

On the ESPN2 prelims, three bouts ended early as Geoff Neal, Irene Aldana and Matt Brown scored knockouts.

Neal finished Mike Perry, Aldana knocked out Ketlen Vieira and Brown topped Ben Saunders. Omari Akhmedov earned a decision over Ian Heinisch.

Chase Hooper, Brandon Moreno, Jessica Eye and Punahele Soriano were all winners on the UFC Fight Pass prelims.

UFC 245: Usman Vs. Covington Results

Kamaru Usman def. Colby Covington via TKO (strikes) at 4:10 of Round 5 to retain the UFC welterweight title

Alexander Volkanovski def. Max Holloway via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 50-45) to become the new UFC featherweight champion

Amanda Nunes def. Germaine de Randamie via unanimous decision (49-44, 49-46, 49-45) to retain the women’s UFC bantamweight title

Marlon Moraes def. Jose Aldo via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

Petr Yan def. Urijah Faber via KO (head-kick) at :43 of Round 3

Geoff Neal def. Mike Perry via TKO (strikes) at 1:30 of Round 1

Irene Aldana def. Ketlen Vieira via KO (strike) at 4:51 of Round 1

Omari Akhmedov def. Ian Heinisch via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Matt Brown def. Ben Saunders via KO (elbow) at 4:55 of Round 2

Chase Hooper def. Daniel Teymur via TKO (strikes) at 4:34 of Round 1

Brandon Moreno def. Kai Kara-France via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)

Jessica Eye def. Viviane Araujo via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Punahele Soriano def. Oskar Piechota via KO (strike) at 3:17 of Round 1