UFC 296 - Leon Edwards vs Colby Covington RECAP: 'Rocky' retains welterweight title against fierce rival, as Brit coasts to decision to spoil Donald Trump's party
By Will Griffee For Mailonline
Published: | Updated:
Recap Mail Sport's live blog for round-by-round updates as Leon Edwards defends his welterweight title against Colby Covington at UFC 296.
This live blog has now closed.
Thanks for joining us tonight. What a night for the Brits in Sin City. Paddy Pimblett comes through a legend in Tony Ferguson to regain a shedload of momentum and Leon Edwards made light work of the man who has tormented him all week. The welterweight belt is heading back to Birmingham. Goodnight!
AND STILL - EDWARDS WINS (49-46)
Job done for Edwards. No Trump wrapping the belt around Colby's waist or homecoming for the title, no Make America Great Again and no victory for the use of vile jokes in the lead up. Any neutrals will be delighted for Edwards and, in truth, he never had to get out of third gear.
Colby must need a finish
Covington takes Edwards down again and briefly has his back but is then reversed and kneed in the body. Tough round to call but if the American has taken any of them, it was this one. He was busier and landed some more shots of his own but also looks slower and less powerful. He needs a big last five minutes.
50-45, 50-45, 49-46 - wide decision for Pantoja
The Cannibal defends his crown with ease and the flyweights embrace at the end. It was not a vintage title fight by any means but Pantoja won't care in the slightest.
He says: 'Thank you everyone, this is the best show in the world and I like to fight here. Maybe it was boring, I need to keep this belt for my family and Brazil. I feel dizzy, this guy does not stop and I know he wanted to take this belt.'
To the scorecards we go
Royval has his best spell of the fight for the first three minutes and Pantoja looks out on his feet. He eats a big shot diving for a takedown but manages to secure it and see out the remaining time on top. Frustration for Royval, who looks like he'll have lost this one by decision, we'll find out shortly.
A tighter third
A mixed round for both. Pantoja threatens his best choke of the fight so far but is then reversed before quickly scrambling to his feet. Royval has some success with stinging jabs and it looks as though the champion is beginning to flag. Will he have the engine to take into the championship rounds?
Brazilian is well on top in every sense
Pantoja is basically doing what he wants so far. He's taking the taller Royval down at will and even lands the biggest shot of the fight to wobble Raw Dog. He secures another excellent takedown at the end of the round and spent most of the second on top without threatening much.
Pantoja takes the first
Pantoja comes flying out the traps, landing some heavy body kicks and then taking his man down with a slam. Chants of 'f*** Joe Biden' ring around T-Mobile arena and bring a thin smile across Donald Trump's face. He seems relatively entertained by this flyweight title fight as Royval scrambles to his feet briefly towards the end of the round.
NEXT UP - Alexandre Pantoja vs Brandon Royval
Gold on the line now with Pantoja out to defend his flyweight belt against Royval. Royval lost to the Brazilian last time they fought years ago but is a dangerous finisher from everywhere and as ever, flyweights can go a hundred miles per hour for the duration, if it goes that long.
Strickland and Du Plessis SCRAP in the crowd
Dana White was seen among the commotion trying to intervene afterwards but in the section with loads of fighters seated, Du Plessis and Strickland, who were at loggerheads in Friday's press conference came to blows. Not a good look and I'm sure Dana White will be asked about it later.
SHAVKAT WINS BY SUBMISSION
Shavkat has absolutely no interest in standing and trading with Wonderboy and much to the crowd's displeasure, takes him down again. He lands some thudding shots and keeps threatening a submission. Just when it looks as though the round is meandering towards a close, he locks in a choke and forces the tap. One-way traffic for the Kazakh and he marches on towards a title shot either next fight or the one after.
Two 10-8 rounds...
It could very well be two 10-8s as Pimblett dominates the second in a different manner. He spends much of the five minutes in Ferguson's guard but lands some big ground and pound, never really threatening a submission and eating a couple of trademark elbows but it was definitely one-sided. Hail Mary time for El Cucuy.
A bit of beef this week
OUT LIKE A LIGHT
Josh Emmett has just delivered an absolutely horrendous KO of Bryce Mitchell, who is still receiving treatment and was out cold for some time.
What a devastating finish for the former interim title contender and the reaction here was shock as much as anything else, with 'Thug Nasty' flatlined on the mat surrounded by medical officials. He walks out of his own accord thankfully.
Pressure on Colby now
Trump and Covington's relationship is perfectly mutually beneficial. Covington uses the ex-president's profile and status to raise that of his own and Trump connects with voters as a supposed man's man and supporter of blue collar workers by coming along to the fights. That said, it won't look great if Colby fumbles the bag now.
Can Goggins save Ferguson?
Ferguson's heart and cardio have never been an issue, which is why it's so interesting those things are the areas he's sought to improve ahead of this one. Paddy Pimblett thinks he is simply aging and slower, meaning he can't escape trouble like he used to. We'll find out later.
50k guaranteed!
That was just an unbelievable battle of skill and will. Aldana kept marching forward, leg in tatters, almost zombie-like. Rosa lacked the power in her punches but landed plenty and chewed up the inside knee. It goes to the judges and neither deserves to lose. You feel they'll both get a 50k fight of the night bonus anyway...
What a scrap between Aldana and Rosa!
Heading into the third round of the penultimate pre-lim and Irene Aldana and Karol Rosa are serving up a classic.
Aldana's leg is bruised and red on the inside of her knee but she's been pushing forward and landing heavy shots. We could be in for a brilliant third round.
A quarter of a mill wager
Not ideal if you're Leon and know about Drake's dubious betting history - could he be one of those to break the curse?
Baddy in the building
Paddy Pimblett has rocked up in his fight gear, Ferguson in shades and a suit as we've come to expect from the 39-year-old veteran. 'The Baddy' could put him out to pasture tonight and the build-up was cordial until the press conference when they went at each other - now there's a bit more feeling to it and the main card match-up is all the more tantalising for it.
WOW Garbrandt wins by KO
Garbrandt just rolled back the years, looking at his razor sharp best. He landed some savage right hands and the one that put Brian Kelleher away was ridiculous.
Kelleher had done well to cut Garbrandt's lead leg down and it looks badly bruised now but he's secured a first-round win with a sensational showing to light up the crowd.
Big Bruce's last gig of the year
The man, the legend, Bruce Buffer is strolling around cageside. He's fistbumping everyone and kisses the hand of one of the octaon girls.
What a night to close out the year of MMA and of course Buffer will take centre stage to rally the crowd with his trademark calls.
What kind of reception will Colby get?
Colby Covington started the week with the Americans in his corner but his low blows seemed to turn them off and there were plenty of boos at the face-offs. It think he'll probably get a mixed reception tonight, although with Donald Trump watching cageside, anything could happen.
Ulanbekov smothers Cody Durden to defeat
Impressive stuff at the top of the early pre-lims where Tagir Ulanbetov chokes out the very resilient Durden in the second.
He dropped him in the first and them clambered all over his back in the second before eventually breaking through to lock in a rear-naked choke. Top 10 incoming for the Russian flyweight.
We know which side Volk is on
Alexander Volkanovski - who defends his featherweight title against Ilia Topuria next year - has been out in Vegas this week and told Leon he wants him to get into 'piece of s***' Covington. He joins the likes of Sean Strickland and Jon Jones in siding with the Brit.
Andre Fili - what a finish!
A first win on the board tonight for the USA as Andre Fili secures a TKO over Lucas Almeida in the first round.
It was a beautiful right hand that send his man to the mat. He says it has been a tough week after a friend got in a motorcyle accident and he had to put his dog down, a nice way to end the year for him though and a big pop from the crowd, with a decent number of them already in the building.
Colby's latest low blow
In a week where Colby Covington has lowered the tone as only he can, he made one last vicious attack on Leon Edwards in a bid to get under his skin even more tonight - read the full story here.
Shamil Gaziev impresses on debut
The big Russian slugger opened up the early-prelims with a statement of intent in the heavyweight division.
He battered Martin Buday in the first and a doctor had to check his opponent's eye before the second. It was one-way traffic again and the ref saved Buday by getting in the way of Gaziev's onslaughts.
What's up fight fans!
Welcome on board to the final massive fight card of the year and what a night we have in store.
Leon Edwards will have the chance to get his hands on Colby Covington after being desperate to do that all week. Paddy Pimblett vs Tony Ferguson... need we say more. And a main card featuring a flyweight title fight and Shavkat taking on Wonderboy - it's a brilliant card.
Before then, we have some juicy pre-lims to get into so stay tuned for all the live updates and build-up to the big ones later.
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Leon for the win
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