Leon Edwards retains welterweight title while fans are “baffled” by Colby Covington’s gameplan

UFC 296’s main event was one of the more highly anticipated fights of the year, but it didn’t quite live up to the hype.

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Colby Covington talked up a storm in the buildup to the fight, leading to an altercatiion at the press conference with Leon Edwards. But in the end, it was Edwards who came out on top on fight night.

DOMINANT from start to finish!!@Leon_EdwardsMMA went wire to wire in his victory over Colby Covington #UFC296 pic.twitter.com/BDRy5fxvkn

— UFC (@ufc) December 17, 2023

Leon Edwards beats Colby Covington by UD
Edwards retained his welterweight championship, defeating Covington by unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring the bout 49-46.

Covington took way too long to get going, fighting extremely passively through the first two rounds while Edwards cut off the ring and landed precise shots.

Edwards could feel that Covington’s plan would not work on him tonight, and he cruised to a victory. Covington got Edwards on the ground a few times over the last three rounds, but he couldn’t do any damage.

MMA fans couldn’t believe what had gone through Covington’s mind to believe that way of fighting was the right decision.

Colby Covington with the most ridiculous gameplan in UFC history

— DFS By The Numbers (@dfs_numbers) December 17, 2023

Alexandre Pantoja retains flyweight title
Elsewhere on the UFC 296 card, Alexandre Pantoja handily defeated Brandon Royval to retain his flyweight belt. Shavkat Rakhmonov won via submission aganist Wonderboy.

To start the night, Josh Emmett produced a highlight reel yet scary KO and Paddy Pimblett returned to the ring after a year away with a victory.