UFC 296, scheduled for December 16 (Friday), promises an action-packed lineup featuring two championship clashes and thrilling bouts to conclude the year with a bang.
Set to unfold at the renowned T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, UFC 296 boasts an enticing Fight Card. The highlight of the night is the welterweight title defense by Leon Edwards against Colby Covington. Alexandre Pantoja is also slated to defend his flyweight title against Brandon Royval, and the Main Card will kick off with the showdown between Vicente Luque and Ian Machado Garry.
Colby Covington, who lost his welterweight title to Kamaru Usman in November 2021, would be seeking redemption against the fighter who secured consecutive wins over the Nigerian-American in August 2022 and March of this year at UFC 286.
Despite Covington's vocal pre-fight rhetoric, Edwards remains a complete favourite. The former's last fight dates back to March 2022, adding an element of intrigue to this highly anticipated match.
Both fighters share a history of three defeats, with Covington's two losses against Usman. Edwards, unbeaten since 2015, suffered his last loss to Usman and has claimed notable victories, including one against Nate Diaz at UFC 263 in 2019.
Main Card:
Main event: Leon Edwards v Colby Covington
Alexandre Pantoja v Brandon Royval
Shavkat Rakhmonov v Stephen Thompson
Tony Ferguson v Paddy Pimblett
Vicente Luque v Ian Machado Garry
Preliminary Card:
Josh Emmett v Bryce Mitchell
Irene Aldana v Karol Rosa
Cody Garbrandt v Brian Kelleher
Casey O’Neill v Ariane Lipski
Early Preliminary Card:
Alonzo Menifield v Dustin Jacoby
Tagir Ulanbekov v Cody Durden
Andre Fili v Lucas Almeida
Martin Buday v Shamil Gaziev
Randy Brown v Muslim Salikhov
