In the UFC 296 event, Leon Edwards tried to defend his title Welterweight against Colby Covington. The Englishman has imposed himself on the decision.
ليون إدواردز يتفوق على كولبي كوفينجتون ويحتفظ بلقبه في وزنه في UFC 296
Leon Edwards outstands Colby Covington and retains his title Welterweight UFC 296 pic.twitter.com/BRxTVlH8xf
— mmamag.ma (@jamalsoussi10) December 18, 2023
For his second title defense, Leon Edwards challenged Colby Covington in the last UFC event of the year. After a very muscular trashtalk between the two athletes, the fight promised to be tense.
Round 1: Leon Edwards tries to frame his opponent. In the center of the cage, the champion places a beautiful left on Colby Covington. Overwhelmed in striking, the American is trying to fight but Edwards defends well. Standing, Leon Edwards manages quietly.
Round 2: Back to the cage, ‘Chaos’ Covington does not find a solution. For his part, the British champion manages the distance and sends good Leg Kicks. More active and more present, Edwards remains very concentrated.
Round 3: Edwards insists with the Leg Kicks, and the right leg of the American begins to be marked. Faced with this situation, ‘Chaos’ is struggling and validates a Takedown on the champion. The latter gives him the same with also a validated ground. The two athletes get up and exchange foot.
Round 4: In striking, Leon Edwards takes the ascendancy and hits Covington on all areas. In a ground sequence, the American makes his struggle speak but the champion manages the situation perfectly.
Round 5: Colby Covington accelerates and brings ‘Rocky’ to the ground. In the process, Edwards does the same thing for him and even takes the back of the American. On the back, the Englishman locks a triangle Choke but the challenger manages to get out of it. ‘Chaos’ ends hard in a dominant position in Ground & Pound.
At the end of the day after 5 rounds, Leon Edwards won by unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46). The Englishman retains his title Welterweight and chained a 13th victory in a row.
The end of the fight after a disappointing match from both sides !!!
نهاية النزال بعد مبارة مخيّب للآمال من كلا الطرفين!!! pic.twitter.com/ADOezW4zqc— mmamag.ma (@jamalsoussi10) December 18, 2023
After the fight, an emotional Edwards hit out at Covington for insulting his late father at Thursday’s press conference. Edwards’s father was shot and killed when the welterweight champion was just 13.
“This was an emotional fight for me,” Edwards told Joe Rogan in the Octagon. “This guy used my dad’s death as entertainment, he used my dad’s murder as entertainment. It took a lot for me to calm down, stay focused and come into this fight. I spoke to my coaches, spoke to my mum, and I kind of just shut it down.
“After the press conference, I went backstage, I was crying just with the rage. You can’t use my dad’s death as entertainment, and that’s what he did. To this day, it still breaks my heart that he was murdered. [Covington] said [my dad] should burn in hell. He’s a great competitor, but he’s just a dirty human being.”
Meanwhile, Covington remarkably claimed that he felt he had beaten Edwards. “I feel great, it was an easy fight. I barely have a scratch on me,” he said, though he did acknowledge that his more tentative performance might have been down to “a long lay-off”.
Covington, who last fought in March 2022, added: “I want to shout out all the first responders and Donald Trump, he’s gonna make America great again. Trump 2024!”
