UFC 296 Results & Recap: Edwards, Pantoja Retain Titles After Five-Rounders In Final Event Of 2023

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Las Vegas, December 17: UFC ended 2023 with a blowout as champions Leon Edwards and Alexandre Pantoja retained their titles in UFC 296: Edwards vs. Covington pay-per-view, which took place at the T-Mobil Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday (December 17).

Majority of the stacked card, ended in stoppages as three fights were decided by submission and four ended by either TKO or KO, while five including the headliners, went the distance and were decided on the judges scorecard.

While the prelims women's bantamweight bout between Irene Aldana and Karol Rosa bagged the fight of the night award, three other fighters on the card were also given bonuses for their respective stoppage wins.

Josh Emmet, Ariane Lipski and Shamil Gaziev all walked away from the pay-per-view with an extra USD50K as performance bonus. Here is the recap and results from UFC 296:

UFC 296 Recap

UFC welterweight champion Edwards ignored all the trash talk from former interim titleholder #3 Covington and got the job done through a five round title fight. Edwards used measured technique and patience to outclass Covington, who couldn't rise to the occasion.

After earning the decision, Edwards said, "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 defence, I've tied GSP for most wins in a row, I'll just keep doing what I'm doing."

In the co-main event, UFC flyweight champion Pantoja and No. 4 Brandon Royval set an incredible pace in their rematch with the belt on the line. Pantoja's dominant grappling punctuated the first three rounds, then Royval had a resurgence in the championship rounds with his striking combinations.

It wasn't enough to stem the flow of the champ, who was successful in his first title defense by unanimous decision. Pantoja said, "This fight was maybe too boring, but Brandon Royval was a tough guy to fight. I watched him coming and I knew he was going to come for the belt.

"I needed to keep this belt for my family, for Brazil. They need idols right now. Keep working for your home and your kids, that's the most important thing in life."

Also on the main card, Paddy Pimblett and Tony Ferguson took their lightweight bout to the distance with the former landing a decision win, while Emmet and Shavkat Rakhmonov claimed stoppage wins in their respective bouts. Here is the final results of UFC 296:

UFC 296 Results

• Welterweight World Championship Bout: Leon Edwards defeated Colby Covington by unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46)
• Flyweight World Championship Bout: Alexandre Pantoja defeated Brandon Royval by unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 49-46)
• Welterweight Bout: Shavkat Rakhmonov defeated Stephen Thompson by submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:56 of Round 2
• Lightweight Bout: Paddy Pimblett defeated Tony Ferguson by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Featherweight Bout: Josh Emmett defeated Bryce Mitchell by KO (right hand) at 1:57 of Round 1
• Light Heavyweight Bout: Alonzo Menifield defeated Dustin Jacoby by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Women's Bantamweight Bout: Irene Aldana defeated Karol Rosa by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Bantamweight Bout: Cody Garbrandt defeated Brian Kelleher by KO (right hand) at 3:42 of Round 1
• Women's Flyweight Bout: Ariane Lipski defeated Casey O'Neill by submission (armbar) at 1:18 of Round 2
• Flyweight Bout: Tagir Ulanbekov defeated Cody Durden by submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:25 of Round 2
• Featherweight Bout: Andre Fili defeated Lucas Almeida by TKO (strikes) at 3:32 of Round 1
• Heavyweight Bout: Shamil Gaziev defeated Martin Buday by TKO (strikes) at 0:56 of Round 2