We are less than a week away from Kamaru Usman’s highly anticipated rematch against Colby Covington, which naturally means this will be a good time to reflect on what happened the last time the two met.

Most of us remember the result, but not everyone remembers how ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ frightened Covington at UFC 245.

It was a fifth-round TKO that featured Usman breaking Covington’s jaw, and as you can see from the slo-mo video below, it was very ugly.

Now, as painful as that seems, you have got to give it to the American for fighting two rounds despite having a broken jaw. Lasting that long against someone like Usman with such a severe injury is not something that everyone can manage.

But that has not done him any favours as far as earning Usman’s respect is concerned - not that he cares anyway - as the welterweight champion has really been rubbing it in ahead of the main event at UFC 268.

“His loss to me has, I think, destroyed him. There’s just some athletes that are just gonna have to live with knowing that in the time where you existed someone else existed that was better than you. And I think that’s something he’s gonna have to live with, and I think it might eat at him for the rest of his life.”

Read more: UFC 268 - Usman vs Covington 2: Fight Card, Date, UK Start Time, Location And Everything You Need To Know

Covington hasn’t exactly been quiet either, stating that he was every bit as competitive the first time they met and it will be so this time, too.

“Man, I feel like a little kid before Christmas. I’m so excited I finally got what I’ve been begging for and what I earned.

"Most people want to say that this fight wasn’t competitive the first time we fought. Man, I beat him multiple rounds. He had to take multiple fouls and multiple timeouts. I kicked him in the liver and they called it a nut shot. I had him on the wobbly street with the high kick and he’s faking the eye poke on the right eye when it barely grazed his left eye so we know he’s a terrible actor.”

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ENTER GIVEAWAY

Very spicy words.

Let us hope both of them bring that energy to the Octagon on Saturday night.