On the last UFC card of 2023, the two world title fights headlining UFC 296 featured a dominant champion retaining his belt via a unanimous decision.
Welterweight champion Leon Edwards, who is now 22-3 overall and unbeaten in his past 13 fights, easily defended his title belt against No. 3-ranked Colby Covington in the main event. “Chaos” is now 1-3 in title fights, with two losses to former champion Kamaru Usman and a win over Rafael dos Anjos in June 2018 for the interim welterweight title, which he was later stripped of due to injury.
In the co-main event, champion Alexandre Pantoja and Brandon Royval went the distance with Pantoja coming out on top. The Brazilian retained his title via unanimous decision with a dominant outing and now has the second most wins in the UFC’s flyweight division with 11.
Also on the main card, Shavkat Rakhmonov improved his undefeated record to 18-0 with a second-round submission of veteran Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson. It was the first time in Thompson’s pro career that he was finished by submission.
In his main card matchup against Paddy Pimblett, former interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson looked nothing like his former self and ended up losing his seventh fight in a row. On the other hand, Pimblett struggled to finish a 40-year-old Ferguson and seemed to be gassed out by the third round. Pimblett won 30-27 on all three judges’ scorecards.
Featherweights Josh Emmett and Bryce Mitchell opened the pay-per-view card in a short-notice fight after Emmett’s original opponent, Giga Chikadze, injured his groin in training and was forced to withdraw. The fight lasted less than two minutes as Emmett landed an epic overhand right that instantly knocked out Mitchell, who was seen going into convulsions after the finish.
For complete coverage of UFC 296, stay here on Yahoo Sports and follow our live updates below (starting at 6:30 p.m. ET) throughout the entire event.
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UFC 296: Leon Edwards vs. Colby Covington main card results, highlights
• Welterweight championship: Leon Edwards def. Colby Covington by unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46)
• Flyweight championship: Alexandre Pantoja def. Brandon Royval by unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 49-46)
• Welterweight: Shavkat Rakhmonov def. Stephen Thompson by submission (rear naked choke) at 4:56 of Round 2
• Lightweight: Paddy Pimblett def. Tony Ferguson by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Featherweight: Josh Emmett def. Bryce Mitchell by KO (punch) at 1:57 of Round 1:
UFC 296: Leon Edwards vs. Colby Covington prelims results, highlights
• Light heavyweight: Alonzo Menifield def. Dustin Jacoby by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Women’s bantamweight: Irene Aldana def. Karol Rosa by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Bantamweight: Cody Garbrandt def. Brian Kelleher by KO (punch) at 3:42 of Round 1:
• Women’s flyweight: Ariane Lipski def. Casey O’Neill by submission (armbar) at 1:18 of Round 2:
UFC 296 early prelims full results, highlights
• Flyweight: Tagir Ulanbekov def. Cody Durden via submission (rear naked choke) at 4:25 of Round 2:
• Featherweight: Andre Fili def. Lucas Almeida via TKO (ground and pound) at 3:32 of Round 1:
• Heavyweight: Shamil Gaziev def. Martin Buday via TKO (strikes) at 0:56 of Round 2:
