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Leon Edwards will make the second defense of his welterweight title tonight when he takes on perennial challenger Colby Covington. The 32-year-old Brit last fought in March when he scored a majority decision over Kamaru Usman in their trilogy fight, bringing his overall tally over the former champion to 2-1. Now he has the chance to make history. If he defends his belt, it will be only the third time in UFC history that anyone has challenged for an undisputed title three times and lost all three.
On the other side of the pond, we have Colby Covington, who’s making another push at 170-pound gold. He came up short both times against the aforementioned Usman, but feels he has Edwards’ number. It should be noted that in the last four-plus years, Covington has only defeated Tyron Woodley and Jorge Masvidal—both of whom are out of the UFC. At the very least, this should be a fun scrap. Check out our staff picks here.
Leon Edwards vs. Colby Covington live play-by-play
Round 1
Covington whiffs on a high kick. Covington whiffs on a low kick. Edwards advancing and throws a teep that just misses. Covington with a low kick that lands. Colby misses with a left hook. Left jab by Leon. Neither man has landed anything of substance yet. Colby with a quick one-two gets answered by two from Leon.
Leon with a big left then a right. Colby misses with a one-two. Edwards with an inside leg kick. Colby goes for a single leg and gets stuffed. Right by Covington gets answered by a nasty left from Leon. One-two by Colby lands. Colby bleeding from the right cheek. Body kick by Colby. Leon with a low kick. Big whiff on a left hook by Colby as the round ends.
Round 2
Body kick for Covington. Body kick by Edwards is answered by a left from Colby. Right hook by Edwards. Colby whiffs on a one-two. Low kick by Edwards. Left hook misses for Colby. Big left by Edwards lands. Colby’s right thigh showing the wear from Edwards’ kicks. Crowd is booing the lack of activity. Body shot by Leon.
Leg kick by Edwards again. Fort kick to the body by Edwards. L:eg kick staggers Colby. Right-left lands for Edwards. Colby tries a jump kick that falls short. Crowd is not happy with the activity level. Commentary has decided to try getting creative with the commentary. Round over and crowd is booing again.
Round 3
Colby goes for takedown and gets stuffed, then eats a right. Left by Edwards lands up top. Another leg kick to that battered right leg. Leon is targeting it now. Colby throws a left and eats a big right form Leon. Nice left by Colby lands. Colby shoots and gets Edwards down because Edwards tried to step over to get on top.
Edwards up and lands a huge head kick. Edwards shoots and gets Colby down. Colby bleeding from the nose now. Low kick for Edwards. Left lands for Colby up top. One-two for Colby. Left by Edwards lands. Low kick by Colby answered by a low kick from Edwards. Jump kick by Colby is blocked. Colby shoots again and gets stuffed. Low kick by Colby. Low kick by Edwards. Crowd booing again. Round over. Crowd mad as hell.
Round 4
Leon extends the jab but falls short. Colby with a left high kick that partially lands. Leon with another chopping leg kick. Colby shoots and almost gets trapped in a front choke but spins out when he realizes what’s happening. Low kick by Colby. Front kick by Leon lands hard. Colby’s stomach is showing the damage of that front kick. Nasty left by Leon. Front kick lands again for Leon. Nice left by Colby lands hard up top. Colby shoots again but Leon is defending well.
Leon spins away and gets the fight back to the center. Low kick by Colby. Body kick by Edwards lands and makes Colby wince. Colby lands another nice left. Colby shoots again, but gets stuffed. Leon Gets him down but they scramble and now Colby is on top. Leon reverses and they get back up. Colby lands a nice left but Leon counters with a better right. Round over. Best round so far.
Round 5
High kick lands for Leon. Left by Leon. Colby with a high kick that gets blocked. Colby gets the single and manages to trip Leon and dumps him. Colby trying desperately to get a hook in but Leon is defending well and now back to his feet. Leon takes Colby down and is on his back with one hook in.
Colby fighting his hands. Colby turns over by Leon has a triangle locked in but Colby reverses and is now on top in Leon’s guard. Colby on top trying to punch but Leon has pinned his arms to his chest. Colby lands a shot to the back of the head but it’s missed by Herb Dean.
Colby in half guard now as Leon nails him in the ribs. Colby trying to secure better position as the crowd boos. Colby is working Leon’s ribs from the top as Leon works Colby’s from the bottom. The crowd is so mad right now. Colby just landed two more shots to the back of the head. Herb Dean is oblivious. Colby hanging on till the clock runs out the last several seconds. Round over. Terrible fight.
Official Decision
– Leon Edwards def. Colby Covington via unanimous decision (49-46×3): Welterweight Title
UFC 296 Quick Results
Main card
- – Leon Edwards def. Colby Covington via unanimous decision (49-46×3): Welterweight Title
- – Alexandre Pantoja vs. Brandon Royval: Flyweight Title
- – Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Stephen Thompson: Welterweight
- – Paddy Pimblett def. Tony Ferguson by unanimous decision (30-27 x3): Lightweight
- – Josh Emmett def. Bryce Mitchell via KO at 1:57 of round 1: Featherweight
Prelims
- – Irene Aldana def. Karol Rosa by unanimous decision (29-28 x3): (W) Bantamweight
- – Cody Garbrandt def. Brian Kelleher by KO at 3:42 of round 1: Bantamweight
- – Ariane Lipski def. Casey O’Neill by submission (Armbar) at 1:18 of round 2: (W) Flyweight
- – Alonzo Menifield def. Dustin Jacoby via unanimous decision (29-28×3): Light Heavyweight
- – Tagir Ulanbekov def. Cody Durden by submission (RNC) at 4:25 of round 2: Flyweight
- – Andre Fili def. Lucas Almeida by TKO at 3:32 of round 1: Featherweight
- – Shamil Gaziev def. Martin Buday by TKO at :56 of round 2: Heavyweight
Start date and time
UFC 296: Edwards vs. Covington takes place on December 16th, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The PPV main card starts at 10 p.m. ET. The prelims begin at 6 p.m. ET.
Live streams
UFC 296: Leon Edwards vs. Colby Covington is available on ESPN+ PPV for $79.99 for current subscribers. New subscribers can pay $124.98 for the UFC 296 pay-per-view and an ESPN+ annual subscription.
