UFC 296 in December has it’s main event. Dana White took to social media tonight and announced a number of massive fights to close out 2023. Featured in the announcements was the 296 main event which will feature welterweight champion Leon Edwards (21-3) taking on former interim champion Colby Covington (17-3).
UFC 296 goes down on December 16th in Las Vegas. This is the title fight that the promotion has wanted for a while now and they finally got it booked. For Colby Covington, it will be his first fight since he dominated Jorge Masvidal last March in their grudge match.
Covington has been out of action, but he never lost his spot near the top of the rankings. Dating back to 2016, Covington is 9-2 in the welterweight division with his two losses coming to Kamaru Usman. Usman finished him in the fifth round of their first fight and won a close decision in their second fight.
Dana White has gone on record saying in the past that he believed that Colby Covington would’ve been the undisputed UFC champion had Usman not been at the top of the mountain. However, Usman’s reign was ended last year and that opened the door for Covington to get another shot.
UFC 296
Like Covington, Leon Edwards had lost to Kamaru Usman with his loss coming back in 2015. Following that loss, Edwards would go 9-0, 1 NC in ten fights leading him to another fight with Kamaru Usman, this time with the welterweight title on the line. They headlined UFC 278 last August in Salt Lake City.
Through four rounds of their fight, Edwards looked mentally defeated and Usman was up 3-1 on every scorecard. Then, Edwards shocked the world by knocking out Usman with a head kick with just over a minute left in the fight. Because of Usman’s dominant reign as champion, they ran things back in march at UFC 286.
This time, Edwards was able to win a decision and it was pretty clear that he was the winner. Now, he’ll get another tough challenge in the form of the former interim champion. This should be a sensational fight with a ton of trash talk leading up to the event.
More must-reads: