Edwards, Pantoja defend titles in UFC 296

MANILA, Philippines – Leon Edwards and Alexandre Pantoja successfully defended their welterweight and flyweight UFC titles, respectively, in UFC 296 last Sunday, December 17, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas in contrasting fashion.

Pantoja manhandled challenger Brandon Royval in the first three rounds, then looked vulnerable and shaky in the final two as the latter mounted a comeback. But time wasn’t on Royval’s side as he succumbed to a unanimous decision loss to the champion 50-45, 50-45, 49-46.

Edwards, on the other hand, had a relatively easier time against Colby Covington, who was clearly not his old self after a two-year layoff. In fact, he fired more verbal jabs than actual jabs inside the Octagon. 

The welterweight champion ignored all the trash talk from former interim titleholder and No. 3-ranked Colby and got the job done through a five-round title fight taking a rather anticlimactic unanimous decision by similar scorecards of 49-46. 

For his second successful title defense, Edwards used measured technique and patience to outclass Covington, who couldn't rise to the occasion. Said the Englishman, "I know I'm the better athlete. I can match him with cardio. I can match him with technique and range to shut him down, and that's what I did. I wanted to grapple with him, I'm a mixed martial artist. I wanted to come out here and prove my case, out-grapple a grappler. This is my second title defense, I've tied GSP for most wins in a row, I'll just keep doing what I'm doing."

In other fights, Josh Emmett was one of three awardees of Performance of the Night when he knocked out Bryce Mitchell at 1:57 of the very first round. 

 Some legends in the ring also were on the losing end of the fight as Englishman Paddy Pimblett overwhelmed Tony Ferguson with a more well-rounded game. Shavkat Rakhmonov submitted Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson with a rear-naked choke at the 4:56 mark of the second round. 

UFC 296 was the final UFC event of 2023 and also served as the final one for long-time UFC Ring Girl Brittney Palmer, who served 16 years with the world’s top combat sports organization.

The UFC is shown live in the Philippines on the Premier Sports channel on Skycable