Edwards puts welterweight title on the line against Covington

Leon Edwards will put his welterweight world championship on the line when he faces Colby Covington in the main event of UFC 296, set for the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Sunday morning.

Edwards (21-3, 1 NC) will be looking to make a second successful defence of his title, having beaten former champion Kamaru Usman in his last two fights: by KO in August 2022 to claim the strap and via majority decision in March of this year to retain.

The 32-year-old Jamaican-born Englishman has spoken of his desire to become a double division champion, as he eyes the winner of the middleweight title clash between Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis early next year.

“One hundred percent, definitely,” Edwards said when asked about moving up to middleweight. “I feel especially with someone like Strickland, and I think he’s fighting Du Plessis soon, so either of them two would be great to fight.

“I’m big myself. I feel like that would be perfect. I feel like me going out and being double-champ, first ever from the UK to do it. That’s definitely one of my goals. That’s on the cards for sure.”

Covington (17-3) is a former welterweight interim champion, but was twice beaten by Usman in his attempts to become undisputed king of the division. In returning to the Octagon for the first time since March 2022 (when he defeated former friend Jorge Masvidal) he is confident of making it third time lucky.

“Colby’s hungrier than ever,” coach Daniel Valverde said. “Very hungry still. Colby’s a very famous guy. He’s a successful guy, but he’s still very, very hungry. He still wants this belt so bad.”

The co-main event sees Alexandre Pantoja (26-5) make the first defence of his flyweight championship (which he won by defeating Brandon Moreno back in July) when he faces Brandon Royval (15-6) – a fighter he has already beaten (via second-round submission back in August 2021).

The rest of the main card features a welterweight clash between Shavkat Rakhmonov and Stephen Thompson; a lightweight clash pitting veteran Tony Ferguson against rising star Paddy Pimblett; and a welterweight opener between Vicente Luque and Ian Machado Garry.

UFC 296 – MAIN CARD

- Main event: Welterweight championship: Leon Edwards v Colby Covington

- Co-main event: Flyweight championship: Alexandre Pantoja v Brandon Royval

- Welterweight: Shavkat Rakhmonov v Stephen Thompson

- Lightweight: Tony Ferguson v Paddy Pimblett

- Welterweight: Vicente Luque v Ian Machado Garry