Leon Edwards is slated to put his welterweight championship on the line against Colby Covington in the headline bout of UFC 296. UFC 296, which is the last UFC PPV event of 2023, will take place on December 16 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
‘Rocky’ took to Instagram to share the fight announcement poster and accompanied it with a caption that expressed his intentions for ‘Chaos’:
“December 16th I put the final nail in this man coffin #headshotdead”
Check out Edwards’ post below:
Leon Edwards is gearing up for his second title defense, having secured a majority decision victory over Kamaru Usman at UFC 286 in March. This marked his second consecutive win over the former UFC welterweight champion. Edwards initially claimed the championship in August 2022 with a remarkable fifth-round knockout of ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ at UFC 278.
Meanwhile, Colby Covington is ready to return to the octagon after a nearly two-year sabbatical. The 35-year-old American is aiming for his third shot at the UFC 170-pound championship. Covington defeated friend-turned-rival Jorge Masvidal at UFC 272 in March 2022 but has been out of action since then.
Gilbert Burns gives his prediction on the Leon Edwards vs. Colby Covington title fight
Gilbert Burns offered his prediction for the upcoming welterweight championship fight between Leon Edwards and Colby Covington.
During a recent interview with MiddleEasy, ‘Durinho’ expressed his support for Edwards to emerge victorious over Covington, citing Edwards’ superior striking skills. He also noted that fans tend to underestimate welterweight kingpin’s ground game and grappling abilities:
“Leon will win any day of the week. I think he has way better striking, like very sharp, super, super good striking. With managing the distance, and controlling, his wrestling defense got much better, and his grappling is super underrated. I think Leon is very very good but because he doesn’t fight so often, people kind of underrate him a little bit. I think he’s very, very good.”
Check out Burns’ comments below (from 9:40):
