Leon Edwards BEATS Colby Covington in drab encounter as UFC welterweight champion retains his title thanks to unanimous decision

UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards successfully defended his title against Colby Covington via unanimous decision at UFC 296. 

Edwards executed a leg kick-heavy game plan while negating most of Covington's takedown attempts to tally 49-46 across all three score cards. While the fight was won soundly, it was not as exciting as fans thought following the buildup. 

Post fight, Edwards addressed how Covington commented on his late father, who was murdered when he was 13 years old. 

'This guy used my dad's death as entertainment,' Edwards said while holding back tears. 'It took a lot for me to calm down, stay focused to win this fight.'

'He's a good competitor. But he's a dirty human being.' 

Edwards went into Saturday after winning and defending the title against former champion Kamaru Usman in his last two fights. With the win, Edwards extends his unbeaten streak to 13 fights. 

Edwards and lightweight champion Islam Makhachev are tied for the second longest active win streaks in the UFC behind Jon Jones' 19 consecutive wins.  

Meanwhile, Covington has lost three of his last five fights. Covington received the title shot despite being inactive for nearly two years after defeating Jorge Masvidal in March 2022. 

Covington failed to capture undisputed gold for the third time after challenging Usman twice during his reign. 

The loss moves Covington to a 17-4 record while the champion Edwards improves to 22-3. 

Edwards is likely to defend the title against No 2 welterweight Belal Muhamad or No 5 Shavkat Rakhmonov. Muhamad weighed in as the backup fighter for UFC 296 while Rakhmonov scored a second round finish over veteran Stephen Thompson.