At the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, tonight, the most prestigious mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion in the world will be competing in a bout. In addition to the two title fights that are scheduled to take place at UFC 296: Edwards vs. Covington, the event will also feature a number of other exciting matches that will feature top contenders and prospects from a variety of classifications.
The highly awaited welterweight title fight between reigning 170-pound king Leon Edwards and two-time former title challenger Colby Covington will take place at UFC 296, and it will be the main event of the event.
As a result of his victories over Kamaru Usman, a former long-time champion at the 170-pound weight class, in his two most recent fights, Leon Edwards will be looking to make a successful defense of his title this coming Saturday. In 2022, “Rocky” won the welterweight championship by knocking out Usman in the fifth round with a stunning knockout. In their most recent fight, which took place earlier this year, “Rocky” won by majority decision.
Colby Covington, on the other hand, has not competed in a fight in twenty-one months, ever since he defeated Jorge Masvidal by unanimous decision in March of last year. Covington is making his third attempt to win the undisputed UFC gold after he was unsuccessful in his two previous attempts to dethrone Kamaru Usman, who was the champion at the time.
UFC Fight Tonight: Who else is fighting on the UFC 296: Edwards vs.
Covington card?
Alexandre Pantoja, who had recently crowned the flyweight champion, will also be competing on the UFC 296 card. In the co-main event, he will face Brandon Royval in a rematch of their fight from 2021.
At the UFC 290 event that took place in July, Pantoja defeated Brandon Moreno via split decision to claim the flyweight championship. The Brazilian fighter is currently on a winning streak of four consecutive bouts and is looking to make his first successful defense of his 125-pound title.
In their first encounter, Brandon Royval was defeated by Pantoja via submission in the second round of their fight. In spite of this, he has won three consecutive fights since that defeat, including two consecutive first-round finishes against Matt Schnell and Matheus Nicolau in his most recent two bouts. This coming Saturday, the native of Colorado will attempt to continue that momentum into his first opportunity to compete for a championship.
Here is the first match between Alexandre Pantoja and Brandon Royval:
An additional fascinating clash will take place between rising contender Shavkat Rakhmonov and Karate ace Stephen Thompson. Rakhmonov will be putting his unbeaten run on the line against Thompson.
In another fight that will take place on the main show, Paddy Pimblett will compete against Tony Ferguson in a lightweight bout.
It is anticipated that Josh Emmett will compete against Bryce Mitchell in the fight that will serve as the main card opener for the UFC 296 pay-per-view event.
