The Blueprint
Sunday, December 17
 
How to Watch:
Main Card: 7am GST on AD Fight, Starzplay and UFC Arabia
Prelims: 5am GST on AD Sports 2, AD Fight, Starzplay, and UFC Arabia
Early Prelims: 3am GST on AD Sports 2, AD Fight, Starzplay, and UFC Arabia
 
The Main Card
(C) Leon Edwards vs. (#3) Colby Covington – welterweight title bout
(C) Alexandre Pantoja vs. (#2) Brandon Royval – flyweight title bout 
(#5) Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. (#6) Stephen Thompson – welterweight bout
Tony Ferguson vs. Paddy Pimblett – lightweight bout
(#9) Vicente Luque vs. (#10) Ian Machado Garry – welterweight bout
 
 
The Breakdown
(C) Leon Edwards vs. (#3) Colby Covington – welterweight title bout

Britain’s Leon Edwards will put his welterweight title on the line for the second time when he takes on America’s Colby Covington at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas this weekend. Edwards claimed the title with a stunning fifth round knockout of former champion Kamaru Usman in August 2022, following up with a successful defence againt the Nigerian Nightmare seven months later. He now closes out 2023 by taking on one of MMA’s most polarising figures in Colby Covington. A former interim champion at 170lbs, this will be the third time Covington has fought for the undisputed title – losing to Usman on the previous two ocassions.  Both men will celebrate a decade with the UFC in 2024, and each will be keen to enter that anniversary year standing atop the welterweight division. 

(C) Alexandre Pantoja vs. (#2) Brandon Royval – flyweight title bout   

 A rematch from over two years ago provides us with the second title fight of 
UFC 296: Edwards vs. Covington when reigning flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja takes on Brandon Royval. In August 2021, Pantoja submitted Royval in the second round, before going on to claim the title in July this year picking up a narrow, split decision win over Brandon Moreno. The loss for Royval was something of a turning point, he has gone three fights undefeated since and now has his first opportunity to fight for UFC gold.

The Local Angle
Both Alexandre Pantoja and Brandon Royval have appeared in Abu Dhabi. 

It wasn’t a night to remember for Pantoja when he lost to Askar Askarov in 2019, but Royval did claim a win in the UAE capital when he submitted Kai Kara-France in 2020. 

The Fighters
Leon Edwards
 
32-year-old Leon Edwards (21-3-1NC) was born in Kingston, Jamaica but has called Birmingham, England home since the age of nine. After a tough childhood, at the age of seventeen it was his mother who convinced Edwards to join an MMA gym to steer him on the right path – and fifteen years later it’s a decision that paid off handsomely. Starting out on the British MMA scene he amassed an impressive record of 8-1 with a range of knockout and submission wins that caught the attention of the UFC. Debuting in 2014, he went 2-2 in his first four fights – but hasn’t lost since – a run taking in 12 fights over almost eight years. His patience and perseverance paid off in 2022 when he avenged a 2015 loss to Kamaru Usman and in doing so became the UK’s second UFC world champion, following in the footsteps of Michael Bisping.

Colby Covington

America’s Colby Covington (17-3) is rarely out of the spotlight. One of the sport’s love/hate characters, he may be known his cutting jibes on a microphone – but he can more than back up with his talents inside the Octagon®. A seasoned amateur wrestler, Covington was a standout in college, and went on to win a grappling world title in 2013. This background has served the 35-year-old well when it comes to his professional MMA career. Known for his excellent takedowns and ground control, Covington loves nothing more than to dominate an opponent on the mat where he will look for fight-ending ground and pound and submissions in equal measure. His fight resume includes three former UFC champions in Rafael dos Anjos, Robbie Lawler, and Tyron Woodley and he will hope to add Edwards’ name to that list this weekend and claim his first undisputed title.   

Alexandre Pantoja

Alexandre Pantoja and his siblings were raised by his mother in their native Brazil, after being abandoned by his father. Now at the age of 33 he reigns over the UFC flyweight division after ousting former champion Brandon Moreno earlier this year. From the moment he stepped foot in the UFC Pantoja has been facing champions. He appeared on The Ultimate Fighter: Tournament of Champions in 2016 which pitted the world’s best from outside the UFC against each other to find a number one contender in the flyweight division. He may not have won that tournament but was instantly awarded a UFC contract and has never looked back. Pantoja (26-5) is a true warrior of the flyweight division and currently rides a four-fight win streak – which includes a win over this weekend’s opponent Royval. 

Brandon Royval

Brandon Royval was only in his early teens when he got the martial arts bug. Training both Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai from an early age, he was barely 18 when he ventured into the amateur MMA ranks and quickly amassed a 5-0 record. Now, 31, Royval transitioned into professional MMA and built a 10-4 record before making his UFC debut just three and a half years ago. Since then, he has won five and lost two of his seven fights – with the only men to have beaten him being Brandon Moreno, and this weekend’s opponent Pantoja – both 125lbs champions. A KO and submission win from his last outings have earned him Performance of the Night, and Fight of the Night respectively – and two other Fight of the Night bonuses show there are always fireworks when he is around – and this weekend will likely be no exception. 
 
UFC 295 in Numbers
 
16:24 – The average fight time for Leon Edwards in the UFC – only three fighters have longer averages in welterweight history

67 – The number of takedowns landed by Colby Covington in his UFC welterweight career – only Georges St-Pierre has more in the division’s history

10 – The number of wins Alexandre Pantoja has in the UFC flyweight division – a week at the weekend will take him third all-time (11) behind Demetrious Johnson and Joseph Benavidez (13)

6:28 – Brendon Royval is looking for finishes in his fights and has the fourth shortest average fight time in flyweight division history (five plus fights to qualify).