Saturday’s stacked UFC 268 card is headlined by a welterweight championship rematch between title holder Kamaru Usman and No. 1 contender Colby Covington.

The champion has won all 14 of his fights in the UFC, including four successful defences of his gold, but UFC president Dana White does not agree with any notion that this fight is going to be a slam dunk victory for the champion.

“Other than the champ Usman, who is on his way to possible GOAT status, there is no doubt that Colby Covington is the next best guy in the world,” White told TSN.  “I just think that people feel like Usman has gotten better since their last fight and we’ll find out (Saturday) night.”

As for what Covington can do to achieve a different outcome than the first fight, where he suffered a fifth-round, TKO defeat, White says, based on the way that bout was going after the first four rounds, it would be wrong to suggest changing anything.

“I had it tied going into the fifth round of the last fight, so to say he should do anything other than what he did last time is crazy,” said White. “The question is, how much better have Usman’s hands gotten? He’s got knockout power in both hands, he’s dangerous everywhere. You’ve got the guy with the second-most takedowns in welterweight history going up against a guy that has never been taken down in his entire career and is on a 14-fight win streak. He said it best, he’s lapping some of these guys, he’s coming around the track for the second time. He’s one of the greatest of all time.”

Usman has had a run of high-profile title defences since capturing the belt in a victory over Tyron Woodley at UFC 235 in March of 2019, leaving grudge matches and former training partners in his wake. White believes this has only helped to further build the champions’ legacy.

“Some people would call that unlucky, I say it’s lucky because to achieve that GOAT status you have to have the dance partners and this guy has nothing but.”

One thing that White did not enjoy during Thursday’s press conference was when Usman pushed Covington during their staredown.

“I hate it. It’s not good, it’s bad,” said White. “Everyone thinks it’s good for selling pay-per-views. Listen, the press conference was good enough. The fight on its own, stands on its own. The thing that I was worried about (Friday) was (Usman) got him yesterday, so Colby was going to try to get him back today. I try to avoid as much of that crap as possible.”

The featured prelim bout will see two-division kick boxing champion Alex Pereira make his UFC debut. White was impressed when he had the chance to see the 34-year-old Brazilian up close.

“There is obviously a lot of excitement and anticipation for him coming in (Saturday) night,” said White. “It’s going to be fun to see, this guy is an absolute killer. (Friday) was the first time, out here at the weigh-ins, that I’ve seen him live in person, he’s massive.”

On the season finale of Dana White’s Contender Series, Canadian Yohan Lainesse earned his place on the UFC roster. The UFC president liked what he saw from the Montreal fighter, as well as other Canadians during the season and can’t wait to return to Canada to stage another card.

“I was excited to see a couple Canadians towards the end of it,” said White. “Canada is a fun market for us, another place that we haven’t been in a long time now and when we bust back into Toronto or one of these other cities, we’ve got some new, up and coming guys, so it should be fun.”