While both of these fighters have a relatively high striking output, Colby seems to rely on his striking a bit more, attempting an average 10.5 strikes per minute and landing 3.9. What this shows is a preference for volume over accuracy - for fast, probing strikes over winging power-punches. Much like featherweight champion Max Holloway, the striking in Covington’s game is all about overwhelming and exhausting his opponent. His aim is to keep them on the back foot by feinting the takedown, landing straight punches up the center, high kicks or front kicks all off of the takedown feint, and then he counters their desperate counters with the double-leg.

Usman’s style is one much more centered around his opponents gameplan. He tends to apply pressure right from the gate in a similar way to Covington, but where Covington overloads his opponent with volume, Usman will take a bit more time to read his opponent and try to time them with big counters. Once he finds his punching range, he tends to rush forward with powerful loopy punches before attempting his double-leg. On the ground, Usman prefers to sit in side-control and land heavy ground strikes, occasionally attempting head-and-arm chokes. While his takedowns are quick, he shoots a conservative four takedowns per 15 minutes where Covington shoots for nearly six. This slightly more reactive, observant aspect to Usman’s style could get him in big trouble against Covington, who uses such a high volume of strikes and feints that his opponents never really get a chance to establish themselves against him.

One critical thing to consider is that these fighters have faced a few common opponents, and data from these fights could help us better establish which fighters’ style is more dominant.

In five rounds against Demian Maia, Kamaru Usman managed to land 97 strikes out of 244 attempted, while defending all 15 takedowns Maia attempted.

In three rounds against Maia, Colby Covington landed 121 strikes out of 351 attempted, while defending nearly the same number of takedowns (13).