UFC 268 on BT Sport – UFC Preview with Liberty Shield VPN

Regardless of whether it’s boxing or MMA, the spotlight always seems to shine a bit brighter on the biggest competitors in their sports. UFC 268 will be shown live on BT Sport. Need a VPN for UFC?

November is a fairly boring month normally. It’s the beginning of winter, the evenings draw shorter and the weather gets worse. It’s also the lull before Christmas, before the excitement really starts to build but exactly when people tend to worry about what to buy for their loved ones and what the cost will be. Need a VPN for UFC 268?

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🥊 UFC 268
📅 Sunday 7 November 2021
⏰ Midnight (Saturday Night UK)
🖥️ BT Sport Live Streaming

This November is kicking off a bit differently for, especially for the UFC fanatics amongst us, with a fantastic card this weekend as UFC 268 takes place at Madison Square Garden with two World Title fights topping off an exciting undercard.

The headline bout will see Kamaru Usman putting his 170lb title on the line against long time rival Colby Covington in a rematch of their 2019 fight. There had been a general distaste for each other between these two fighters due to the fight camps having a well publicized rivalry. Usman had been a member of the vaunted Blackzilians fight team, who had a bitter feud with fellow Florida based team American Top Team, where Covington was a long time fighter. They traded the odd barb in public but it really escalated when Usman, who had moved on to the Sanford MMA team won the welterweight title in March of 2019.

Covington took issue with the new Champion and immediately began demanding a title shot because he had been the interim title holder before injury forced him out of a fight with then Champion Tyron Woodley. He was stripped of his belt and Woodley went on to lose to Usman. Covington insisted he was the real Champion of the division and became more and more outlandish in his comments, and his public persona. After defeating Robbie Lawlor in a title eliminator he got his shot at Usman and was soundly outfought for almost the entirety of the fight before being stopped late in the fifth round. Bizarrely, one judge had Covington ahead going into the fifth round which prompted Covington to protest the stoppage and claim that he was robbed. Since losing that fight he has fought just once, defeating a clearly past his best Woodley by TKO.

Usman has been the much busier fighter, defeating Jorge Masvidal, Gilbert Burns, and then Masvidal again to maintain his status as the world’s best at 170lb. Usman is known for his quiet demeanour, but it’s quite clear that Covington has gotten under his skin with some particularly tasteless comments. Usman has changed gym’s again, moving out to Denver to work with Trevor Wittman and the results have been a big improvement in his striking, as well as his all-round game. He has said he wants there to be no doubt this time around and that could spell bad news for Covington. It’s hard to imagine Covington having many fans at this fight, and if Usman finishes him in dominant fashion the afterparty may last for days. There is no room for complacency from the Champion though, as Covington is a high level fighter who can really push the pace of a fight to a place not many can live with him.

The co-main event feature a Women’s Strawweight title fight between defending Champion Rose Namajunas, who is enjoying her second reign with the belt, facing the woman she took the belt from, Zhang Weili, in a rematch of their April meeting.

Namajunas won that fight via a first round headkick but many, including Zhang, felt that the fight was stopped prematurely and that she was not given sufficient time to recover. Namajunas has said that she will leave no doubt this time around and nobody would bet against Thug Rose when she sets her mind to something. This is the woman who, despite a mediocre 6-3 record going into the fight, destroyed a previously unbeaten Joanna Jedrzejczyk to capture the title in 2017 and then beat her a second time. She lost her title in freak fashion against Jessica Andrade, in a fight she was dominating, after being knocked out during a slam. A year later, after taking time away from the sport she came back and beat Andrade. That win earned her the first fight with Zhang, who had taken the title from Andrade and successfully defended it against Jedrzejczyk. She was a heavy underdog entering the fight but once again, overcame the odds and walked away with the title. The only question mark over Thug Rose right now is whether or not she has been active enough, having fought only four times in the last four years.

Zhang on the other hand has fought seven times in that time span, and was looking close to unbeatable until she ran into Namajunas’ shin. The Chinese fighter, nicknamed Magnum, was on a 21 fight win streak, including five wins in the UFC. Despite making her debut almost a year after this weekend’s opponent, she is the far more experienced fighter with 22 fights to Rose’s 14, and she will be hoping to draw on that experience as she looks to regain the title she believes she should still hold. It’s a matter of great pride to her to represent her country, she was the first Chinese fighter to hold a title in the UFC, and she took offense to being cast as the villain in the “good vs evil” scenario of USA vs China that was created after Namajunas, who is of Lithuanian parentage, compared China to the USSR and talked about the oppression her family suffered under Soviet rule. Zhang is a slight favourite with the oddsmakers this weekend but this fight is very difficult to predict. Despite the Chinese fighters brilliance in her run to the title, it’s always risky to pick against Thug Rose.

Another can’t miss fight on this card will see Justin Gaethje take on former three time Bellator Champion Michael Chandler in a lightweight contest that could earn the winner a title shot. Gaethje hasn’t fought since his defeat by Khabib last October but will enter the fight as the favourite and will know that a win here should lead to some big money opportunities. A title fight against Charles Oliveira, a rematch with Dustin Poirier and a fight with Conor McGregor have all been mentioned as possibilities.

Chandler was beaten by Oliviera last time out for the then vacant UFC title having beaten Dan Hooker in his first fight in the UFC. The longtime Bellator stallworth will want to get back on the winning track soon in order to fulfill his ambition of holding UFC gold. This fight promises fireworks, as between the pair they have 44 career victories with 37 of them coming by stoppage. They’ve also suffered a combined seven stoppage losses. It could well be a fight of the year candidate.

This is not a card to miss.

 

How to watch UFC 260 from anywhere…

In the UK the UFC 260 showcase will be shown live on BT Sport, as well as their respective apps for iPhone, iPad, Android, Smart TV, Now TV, FireTV etc.

But these streaming services are not available to everyone, for example when you load BT Sport in the USA, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, France, Spain, Portugal, Australia, Dubai, Canada etc. you will get an error message.

Sorry, this video is not available in your country.

How can I watch BT Sport from anywhere?

BT Sport has the rights to just over 50 Premier League fixtures during the 2020/21 campaign, and will also carry coverage of the UEFA Champions’ League and Europa League until 2024. Subscribers can watch BT Sport on their computers as well as their various apps on connected devices. They do offer a Monthly Pass with no contract, which will give customers access to the BT Sport mobile app. BT Sport Box Office will no longer show the matches via the now scrapped pay-per-view offering, but is it too late and have customers already moved towards illegal streams and IPTV providers?

Remember that BT Sport also features coverage from the Bundesliga, and holds rights to Moto GP, UFC and WWE coverage as well.  After a long delay the BT Sport app is now available on several models of Smart TV as well as Roku and Amazon Fire TV devices.