UFC 296 Start Time, Full Fight Details!

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is ready to stage its final event of 2023 as UFC 296 goes down later TONIGHT (Sat. Dec. 16, 2023) inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on ESPN+ pay-per-view (PPV). The event will be headlined by a Welterweight title fight between division champion, Leon Edwards, and former interim title holder, Colby Covington. In the co-main event, Flyweight Champion Alexandre Pantoja will defend his belt for the first time against Brandon Royval.

What’s Hot:

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It took a while, but UFC matchmakers finally locked down a long-awaited title fight between Leon Edwards and Colby Covington nine months removed from “Rocky’s” majority decision win over Kamaru Usman, his second straight win over “The Nigerian Nightmare.” They say the first title defense is always the hardest, and since Edwards passed his with flying colors he is coming into the Octagon more confident than ever before. And that is saying a lot because the British brawler hasn’t tasted defeat since losing to Usman in Dec. 2015, which is only his second-ever loss inside the Octagon. Since then, all “Rocky” has done is win 11 of his next 12 fights with his lone blemish being a no-contest (NC) against Belal Muhammad. While that’s a fight he’d love to run back to settle that score, Edwards has bigger fish to fry at the moment, and it won’t be a walk in the park.

Edwards was quick to downplay Covington’s skill, but whether you like him or not “Chaos’s” resume can’t be questioned. As Daniel Cormier recently said, Covington isn’t the biggest, fastest or strongest fighter in the game, he just knows how to get it down with what he has. Perhaps his biggest attribute is his gas tank and tenacity. His lone two losses came against the aforementioned Kamaru Usman, so all three men share a lot of things in common. Since 2016, Covington is 9-2 and has taken out the likes Rafael dos Anjos, Robbie Lawler and Tyron Woodley, He was last seen defeating his former longtime training partner and best friend, Jorge Masvidal, over 21 months ago. And because he’s been on the sidelines ever since (perhaps because of this), it will be interesting to see just how ring rust plays a factor in his performance. His cardio has never been one to to be questioned, but perhaps his time off will aide him inside the cage. He will come in fresh, rested and with no injuries.

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It’s no secret Covington has great wrestling skills at his disposal, while Edwards prefers to stand-and-bang and has earned a living grinding out wins. But for as good a wrestler that Covington is he doesn’t shy away from a fire fight. He, too, has shown he has the chops to hang on the feet, but if he wants to take you down more often than not you are going for a ride. The detail that makes Covington dangerous is that he doesn’t just lay on you once he has top position, he will punish his foes non-stop. For Edwards, his best shot at retaining the title is to keep the fight standing as long as possible while sticking and moving throughout. Covington has only been stopped via strikes once in his entire career, so “Rocky” will have his work cut out for himself if he wants to become the second to ever do so.

What’s Not:

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It’s a decent card, but for the end of the year event I would have expected the promotion to do a bit more. Maybe a third title fight would have added a bit more star power to it. On the bright side for the UFC, there aren’t a ton of options for combat sports fans to compete with, so it will enjoy a healthy dose of viewers. Still, it seems that end-of-year spectacles are a thing of the past because even last year’s UFC 282 event was also lacking.

Original Card vs. Actual Card:

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The card suffered a massive blow earlier in the week after it was revealed that Ian Garry came down with pneumonia, forcing him out of his scheduled fight against Vicente Luque. Garry hasn’t endeared himself to fans and his colleagues as of late due to his over-the line trash talking and controversial gym conflicts. And when you add his personal life drama into the mix, there were many who were looking to see how he’d perform given all the controversy surrounding him. As a result, Luque was yanked from the event and the fight could very well be scheduled again for early 2024.

A Welterweight collision between Randy Brown and Muslim Salikhov was canceled earlier this week after Brown came down with an illness. Brown has quietly gone 5-1 since 2021, with his lone setback coming against rising star, Jack Della Maddalena. As for Salikhov, he was last seen losing to Nicolas Dalby, his second loss in three fights. Hopefully these two get booked in early 2024.

Injuries:

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Giga Chikadze suffered a major groin injury and was forced out of his scheduled fight against Josh Emmett. In turn, Bryce Mitchell agreed to step in on short notice to take the fight against the Featherweight contender. Mitchell is coming off a big win over Dan Ige just three months ago and is looking to cash in on that momentum by taking out the No. 6 ranked fighter in the division who is coming off back-to-back defeats to Ilia Topuria and Yair Rodriguez. As a result of Garry vs. Luque getting scrapped, this fight was elevated to the main card on pay-per-view (PPV).

New Blood:

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In a battle of the big boys, Martin Buday will battle Shamil Gaziev, who will be making his UFC debut. Both men are surging at the moment with Gaziev going undefeated so far at 11-0, which includes a rear-naked choke victory on the Contender Series. He has finished 10 of 11 opponents, so he wastes no time in getting in and out to call it a night early. As for Buday, he is on a 12-fight win streak and is a perfect 4-0 inside the Octagon.

How The ‘Prelims’ Look:

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From headlining world title fights to getting stuck on the undercard, it’s been a tough decline for Cody Garbrandt, who is a dreadful 2-5 over his last seven fights. To make matters worse he has been knocked out four times in that span. He is coming off a unanimous decision win over Trevin Jones, so perhaps that is the spark he needs to get him back to where he once was. He will have a hard time getting there because Kelleher is still a tough out. Sure he has seen better days himself after losing two in a row, but setbacks make a fighter hungry and the rapping 135-pounder is starving for a win.

Former UFC women’s Bantamweight title contender Irene Aldana will begin her trek back to contention as she looks to pick up a win over Karol Rosa. Aldana hasn’t been seen inside the cage since coming up short against former division champion, Amanda Nunes, this past summer. The Mexican-born champion simply didn’t show up to the fight, but credit to Nunes for shutting her out the entire 25 minutes. As for Rosa, she is looking to pounce and perhaps break into the Top 5 by upset Aldana. She is coming off a split-decision win over Yana Santos to improve to an even 2-2 over her last four fights inside the Octagon.

Casey O’Neill suffered the first loss of her pro MMA career in her most recent outing against Jennifer Maia, and now she looks to start another win streak — the previous one was at nine — when she battles Ariane Lipski, who has turned things around for herself by winning two straight. Prior to her current newfound success, Lipski had gone 1-3 in four bouts, setting her up for the chopping block. But she has earned a new lease on her combat life and is eying her first-ever three-fight win streak inside the Octagon.

In the Light Heavyweight division, Alonzo Menifield will battle Dustin Jacaoby in a battle of two fighters who long for their spot on the rankings. Menifield is 3-0-1 in his last four, while Jacoby is 1-2 and coming off a KO win over Kennedy Nzechukwu. In the Flyweight division, Cody Durden is on the hunt for consecutive win number five inside the Octagon against Tagir Ulanbekov who has racked up a 3-1 record so far under the UFC banner.

Longtime Featherweight contender Andre Fili will step into the cage for fight No. 21 under the UFC banner. He is coming off a loss to Nathaniel Wood, bringing his record to a dreadful 2-4-1 over his last seven fights. I don’t want to go as far as to say he’s on the chopping block, but a win is needed here against Lucas Almeida, who is coming off a loss to Pat Sabatini. He is just 1-1 so far in his young UFC career, but he doesn’t want to go down two straight fights before he has the chance to make a real impression on UFC matchmakers.

Who Needs A Win Badly:

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Tony Ferguson has had one of the worst declines in recent memory. At one time considered one of the best in the world at 155 pounds, “El Cucuy” has lost six straight — four by stoppage — with his last win coming over Donald Cerrone in 2019. He linked up with David Goggins for this event, but he will need a lot more than that to take out Paddy Pimblett, who is primed for superstardom with six straight wins, including winning his first-four fights inside the Octagon (preview here).

As much as fight fans would love to see a vintage Ferguson performance, he hasn’t shown anything over the last four years to give us hope that it will happen. This seems like a teed up showcase fight for “The Baddy” because he has the chance to take out a former interim champion with name value. And even if though “El Cucuy” has seen better days, the promotion is undoubtedly banking on a win helping Pimblett some. With a seventh straight loss, Ferguson could be forced into retirement. For Pimblett, defeating Ferguson gives him another notch on his belt, and whether you like it or not, will set him up for a bigger fight moving forward.

Interest Level: 8/10

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In the co-main event, Alexandre Pantoja will attempt to defend his Flyweight title for the first time when he takes on Brandon Royval. Pantoja defeated Brandon Morena via split-decision at UFC 290 — his second win over Moreno — to get his first-ever taste of UFC gold. Winner of four straight, Pantoja will now attempt to kick his championship reign off on the right foot against the No. 2 ranked fighter in the division. Royval has won three in a row and was last seen ending Matheus Nicolau’s night with an epic TKO (see it here). Royval does have a loss to Pantoja already, losing to the newly-crowned champion in 2021 via rear-naked choke, so getting a win will not only earn him the title, but some much-desired revenge.

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One of the best prospects in the entire Welterweight division, Shavkat Rakhmonov, has surpassed expectations, and now he will aim for his sixth straight win by taking out Stephen Thompson, one of the most experienced fighters in the weight class (preview here). Rakhmonov has finished all five of his UFC opponents to keep his 100-percent finish rate in tact. Undefeated at 17-0, 4-0 UFC, “Nomad” is knocking on the door of a title shot and could feasibly be one or two more wins away from getting there. But “Wonderboy” is out to show that he is far from done and does not want to be a stepping stone for anyone. He does have the standup skills to hang with Rakhmonov, but if we are being real about it the karate specialist may have lost a step or two. He did snap his two-fight skid by defeating Kevin Holland, but prior to that he was just 2-4 over his last six fights. He has a huge opportunity in front of him to make a statement.

Enjoy the fights!

Full UFC 296 Fight Card:

UFC 296 Main Event On ESPN+ PPV:

170 lbs.: UFC Welterweight Champion Leon Edwards vs. Colby Covington

UFC 296 Co-Main Event On ESPN+ PPV:

125 lbs.: UFC Flyweight Champion Alexandre Pantoja vs. Brandon Royval

UFC 296 Main Card on ESPN+ (10 p.m. ET):

170 lbs.: Stephen Thompson vs Shavkat Rakhmonov
155 lbs.: Tony Ferguson vs. Paddy Pimblett
170 lbs.: Vicente Luque vs. Ian Garry — CANCELED (details here)
145 lbs.: Josh Emmett vs. Bryce Mitchell (not Giga Chikadze)

UFC 296 ‘Prelims’ Card on ESPN2/ESPN+ (8 p.m. ET):

135 lbs.: Irene Aldana vs. Karol Rosa
135 lbs.: Cody Garbrandt vs. Brian Kelleher
125 lbs.: Ariane Lipski vs. Casey O’Neill

UFC 296 Early ‘Prelims’ Card on ESPN+ (6:30 p.m. ET):

205 lbs.: Dustin Jacoby vs. Alonzo Menifield
125 lbs.: Tagir Ulanbekov vs. Cody Durden
145 lbs.: Lucas Almeida vs. Andre Fili
265 lbs.: Martin Buday vs. Shamil Gaziev
170 lbs.: Randy Brown vs. Muslim Salikhov – CANCELED (details here)

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Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 296 fight card right here, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. ET (simulcast on ESPN2 at 8 p.m. ET), before the pay-per-view (PPV) main card start time at 10 p.m. ET (also on ESPN+).

To check out the latest and greatest UFC 296: “Edwards vs. Covington” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.