Edwards vs Covington

Who won Edwards vs Covington?

Leon Edwards beat Colby Covington by unanimous decision in their 5 round contest during the main event of UFC 296, on Saturday 16th December 2023 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The scorecards were announced as 49-46, 49-46, 49-46 in favor of the winner Leon Edwards.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 5 rounds in the Welterweight division, which meant the weight limit was 170 pounds (12.1 stone or 77.1 KG).

This contest was for the UFC welterweight championship.

Edwards vs Covington stats

Leon Edwards stepped into the octagon with a record of 21 wins, 3 losses and 0 draws, 7 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 3 by submission.

Colby Covington made his way to the cage with a record of 17 wins, 3 losses and 0 draws, 4 of those wins coming by knock out and 4 by submission.

Leon Edwards' UFC record stood at 14-2-0, while Colby Covington's came in at 12-4-0.

The stats suggested Edwards had a slight advantage in power over Covington, with a 33% knock out percentage over Covington's 24%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Covington had a slight advantage over Edwards, with a 24% submission rate over Edwards' 14%.

Leon Edwards was the younger man by 4 years, at 32 years old.

Edwards had a height advantage of 3 inches over Covington. That also extended to a 2-inch reach advantage.

Edwards was the more experienced professional fighter, having had 4 more fights, and made his debut in 2011, 8 months earlier than Covington, whose first professional fight was in 2012. He had fought 9 more professional rounds, 77 to Covington's 68.

Edwards vs Covington form

Edwards had beaten 4 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 1 of them, going to the judges 3 times.

In his last fight before this contest, he had won against Kamaru Usman at UFC 286 on 18th March 2023 by majority decision in their UFC Welterweight championship fight at o2 Arena, London, United Kingdom.

Previous to that, he had beaten Kamaru Usman at UFC 278 on 20th August 2022 by knockout in the 5th round in their UFC Welterweight championship fight at Vivint Arena, Salt Lake City, United States.

Going into that contest, he had defeated Nate Diaz at UFC 263 on 12th June 2021 by unanimous decision in their 5 round contest at Gila River Arena, Glendale.

Before that, his fight against Belal Muhammad at UFC Vegas 21 on 13th March 2021 ended in a no contest.

He was victorious against Rafael dos Anjos at UFC on ESPN 4 on 20th July 2019 by unanimous decision in their 5 round contest at AT&T Center, San Antonio.

Covington had beaten 3 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 1 of them, going the distance twice.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had won against Jorge Masvidal at UFC 272 on 5th March 2022 by unanimous decision in their 5 round contest at T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, United States.

Previous to that, he had lost to Kamaru Usman at UFC 268 on 6th November 2021 by unanimous decision in their UFC Welterweight championship fight at Madison Square Garden, New York City.

Going into that contest, he had beaten Tyron Woodley at UFC Vegas 11 on 19th September 2020 by knockout in the 5th round at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

Before that, he had been beaten by Kamaru Usman at UFC 245 on 14th December 2019 by knockout in the 5th round in their UFC Welterweight championship fight at T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas.

He had defeated Robbie Lawler at UFC on ESPN 5 on 3rd August 2019 by unanimous decision in their 5 round contest at Prudential Center, Newark.

Activity check

In terms of activity leading into the fight, Colby Covington had been fighting more than Leon Edwards.

Going to this contest, Leon Edwards had last fought 1 year and 1 month ago, while Colby Covington's last outing had been 2 years, 1 month and 13 days ago.

Edwards' last 5 fights had come over a period of 4 years, 8 months and 29 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 11 months and 12 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 22 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 4.4 rounds on average.

Covington's last 5 fights had come over a period of 4 years, 8 months and 15 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 11 months and 10 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 25 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 5 rounds on average.

What were the odds on Edwards vs Covington?

Leon Edwards was a 59/100 (-170) favourite going into the contest, while Colby Covington made his way into the ring at 7/5 (+140) with oddsmakers.