published on April 15, 2024 in gacor

Leon Edwards vs Colby Covington LIVE: UK start time, UFC 296 fight card and how to follow as Brit de

Leon Edwards will be out to make history when he defends his UFC welterweight title against Colby Covington at UFC 296 this evening.

'Rocky' is bidding to become the first Brit in history to make two successful title defences as he headlines the final UFC pay-per-view show of the year.

Edwards, who is undefeated in the Octagon since 2015, will be involved in his first fight since his successive victories over Kamaru Usman.

Covington hasn't fought since beating Jorge Masvidal over five rounds at UFC 272 in March 2022.

The American earned his third title shot by weighing in as the backup fighter ahead of Edwards' majority-decision victory against Usman at UFC 286 and impressing Dana White in the process.

Covington, whose previous two attempts at capturing UFC gold came in losing efforts to 'The Nigerian Nightmare', has been on a collision course with Edwards for years.

Edwards vs Covington: Date and how to follow

UFC 296 will take place on Saturday, December 16.

The action is being held at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The preliminary card will get underway from 11:30pm UK time before the main card at 1am, with the main event then around 5am.

Most read in MMA

The prelims are set to be broadcast live on the UFC Fight Pass and fans can sign up to the pass here.

Leon Edwards previews his fight at UFC 296 in Las Vegas and calls out his opponent Colby Covington

And then the main card will be shown live on TNT Sports Box Office in the UK from 1am on Sunday morning.

The event will cost £19.99 and full details on how to watch the event can be found here.

talkSPORT will have updates throughout fight week while talkSPORT.com will be on hand for the best of the reaction.

UFC 296: Fight card

Subject to change

Main card

MAIN EVENT: Leon Edwards vs Colby Covington - for UFC welterweight title
Alexandre Pantoja vs Brandon Royval - for UFC flyweight title
Shavkat Rakhmonov vs Stephen Thompson
Paddy Pimblett vs Tony Ferguson
Josh Emmett vs Bryce Mitchell

Preliminary card

Alonzo Menifield vs Dustin Jacoby
Irene Aldana vs Karol Rosa
Cody Garbrandt vs Brian Kelleher
Casey O'Neill vs Ariane Lipski

Early preliminary card

Tagir Ulanbekov vs Cody Durden
Andre Fili vs Lucas Almeida
Martin Buday vs Shamil Gaziev

Edwards vs Covington: What has been said?

UFC president Dana White said: "The champ hasn't lost a fight in eight years and is coming off back-to-back wins over the greatest welterweight of all time - Kamaru Usman.

"He's defending his title against Colby Covington, a relentless pressure fighter with unstoppable cardio."

Edwards was previously incensed that Covington was deemed worthy of a third shot at winning UFC gold.

But now he is ready to silence the American who has been trash-talking ahead of the fight.

"I just want to fight him because I don't like him so that will be even more fuel for me in training," Edwards said.

"He's an alright fighter - but look at his resume compared to my resume.

"He hasn't beaten anyone in the top five, he's fought people at the back end of their careers and his last five fights are win-lose-win-lose-win, it's not consistent."

UFC 296: Betting Odds

Leon Edwards heads into this fight as a slight favourite to retain his title at odds of 4/5, with his opponent Covington priced at 1/1.

On the undercard, Paddy Pimblett is heavily fancied to win and is currently priced at 4/11 to secure a victory. For his opponent Ferguson to secure an upset win odds of 2/1 are available.

All UFC and MMA betting markets available at talkSPORT BET

*odds correct as of 05/12/23