Leon Edwards retains welterweight belt at UFC 296

Field Level Media|published: Sun 17th December, 02:13 2023

Dec 16, 2023; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Leon Edwards (red gloves) fights Colby Covington (blue gloves) during UFC 296 at T-Mobile Arena. credits: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

Leon Edwards managed to hang on to his welterweight title on Saturday night, beating Colby Covington by unanimous decision in their main event bout at UFC 296 in Las Vegas.

Edwards took all three cards by the same score, 49-46, to successfully defend the UFC welterweight belt for the second time. He also did so back on March 18, when he defeated Kamaru Usman by majority decision.

Usman was the one who gave up the title to Edwards (22-3-0), losing to him by knockout on Aug. 20, 2022.

Edwards hasn't lost a UFC fight since Dec. 19, 2015. Covington fell to 17-4-0 on Saturday.

Alexandre Pantoja (27-5-0) also refused to give up a belt on Saturday, playing keepaway from Brandon Royval (15-7-0) with a 50-45, 50-45, 49-46 victory by unanimous decision in a flyweight bout.

Shavkat Rakhmonov remained flawless, improving to 18-0-0 by prevailing in a welterweight brawl vs. Stephen Thompson (17-7-1).

In other action Saturday, Paddy Pimblett (21-3-0) topped Tony Ferguson (26-10-0) in lightweight action, and Josh Emmett (19-4-0) bested Bryce Mitchell (16-3-0) in a featherweight fight.

—Field Level Media

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