Leon Edwards ended Colby Covington's run as a top contender with a dominant performance at UFC 296. The English fighter won via unanimous decision in front of a pro-Covington crowd to retain the UFC welterweight title.
Many expected Edwards would act aggressively in the fight after Covington brought up his dead father. However, Edwards was patient in his approach, striking at the right moments. Edwards used his kicks to chop down the leg of Covington, who looked to be in visible pain. Several shots Covington attempted missed by a mile, as a disappointed crowd started to boo the man they were cheering through the week.
Covington landed a few patented takedowns, but Edwards challenged him by landing a few of his own. The end of round five saw Edwards in trouble, but he knew he won when it was all over. Edwards is now on a 13-fight unbeaten streak. The 35-year-old Covington is 0-3 in title fights.
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Now that the Covington experiment is over, Edwards can focus on top contenders Belal Muhammad or Shavkat Rakhmonov.
Leon Edwards is unbeaten in 13 straight fights. That’s the second longest such streak in UFC welterweight history and he’s tied for the second longest active unbeaten streak (with Islam Makhachev) in the entire UFC, behind only Jon Jones. Edwards has not lost since 2015. #UFC296
— Marc Raimondi (@marcraimondi) December 17, 2023
Meanwhile, Alexandre Pantoja went 2-0 against Brandon Royval to retain the UFC flyweight title in the co-main event. Pantoja used the ground game to smother Royval. The end of round four and the beginning of round five was Royval’s best shot at winning, as Pantoja was getting tired. However, the Brazilian used eight takedowns and over 10 minutes of control time to suffocate Royval.
Pantoja has now won five in a row after his first defense of the belt he won against Brandon Moreno in July.
The undefeated Rakhmonov submitted Stephen Thompson, a first in Thompson’s career. Shavkat controlled all aspects of the fight by the cage and tried to submit Thompson several times. Thompson avoided several takedowns but couldn’t survive the last ten seconds of the contest.
A top contender at welterweight, Shavkat is right below Belal Muhammad. Does he face Belal, compete in another contender fight, or move past him in the rankings?
After a year away from action, Paddy Pimblett beat Tony Ferguson. “The Baddy” used his ground game to have all the control time in the world. Pimblett won the fight via unanimous decision. Ferguson is now on a seven-fight losing streak, a far cry from when fans were salivating for a fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov.
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To start the PPV, Josh Emmett provided a late contender Knockout of the Year when he starched Bryce Mitchell in the first round. Mitchell, a last-minute replacement, was visibly shaking after taking the blow. Earlier in the night Irene Aldana and Karol Rosa served up a late Fight of the Year candidate.
The Sporting News provided results from the full fight card below.
UFC 296 full card results
Main card
- Leon Edwards (c) def. Colby Covington via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46) for the UFC welterweight title
- Alexandre Pantoja (c) def. Brandon Royval via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 49-46) for the UFC flyweight title
- Shavkat Rakhmonov def. Stephen Thompson via rear-naked choke (4:56 into round two)
- Paddy Pimblett def. Tony Ferguson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Josh Emmet def. Bryce Mitchell via KO (1:57 into round one)
Prelims
- Alonzo Menifield def. Dustin Jacoby via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Irene Aldana def. Karol Rosa via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Cody Garbrandt def. Brian Kelleher via KO (3:42 into round one)
- Ariane Lipski def. Casey O'Neill via armbar (1:18 into round two)
Early Prelims
- Tagir Ulanbekov def. Cody Durden via rear-naked choke (4:25 into round two)
- Andre Fili def. Lucas Almeida via TKO (3:32 into round one)
- Shamil Gaziev def. Martin Buday via TKO (0:56 into round two)