UFC 296 was full of heated rivalry and a massive chance for fighters to prove their supremacy inside the octagon. The main card of UFC 296 was led by American fighters. The main cards’ feuds were between Josh Emmett vs Bryce Mitchell, Tony Ferguson vs Paddy “The Baddy” Pimblett, Shavkat Rakhmonov vs Stephen Thompson, and the main event of Leon Edwards vs Colby Covington.
At the time of the press conference Colby and Leon fired shots at each other during the trash talk, Colby gave a low blow statement saying: “I’m bringing you to the seventh layer of hell,” Covington said to Edwards. “We’ll say ‘what’s up’ to your dad while we’re there.” This made Edwards furious and that’s where he threw a water bottle at Covington. During the press conference.
Covington continued to provoke Edwards, saying: “He’s the ultimate feeling champion. He’s no ultimate fighting champion. Better get the tissues ready.”
The bad blood between both of the welterweight veterans was even more ignited when Colby gave a brutally offensive statement about Leon’s father who was mu*dered.
After the defeat of Colby Covington by Edwards through a split decision, fans booed at the American during the post-fight interview while Covington was giving a speech where he gave optimistic responses to the question with the statement defining that he was fighting after quite a long time.
In the post-match interview, Colby Covington was asked by Joe Rogan why didn’t he take advantage of his pace and grappling. Colby replies “I had a long layoff and it has something to do with the ring rust”.
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During the following questions, Colby Covington shouted out to Donald Trump whom he believes should be the next US president as Colby quoted: “You can delay but you can’t deny, you’re gonna make America great again, we need borders secure, we need America first again, Donald Trump is gonna do that again, Donald Trump 2024.”
After the fight, when Colby Covington was delivering a speech, due to some unknown reasons, Donald Trump left the stadium, missing Colby’s speech. Many believed that Trump left after being disappointed with Covington’s performance, however, Trump probably met the fighter backstage.
Another theory might be that due to Trump’s busy schedule and/or security concerns, the former President left the arena early.
What happened between Colby and Leon during the fight?
Former US president Donald J Trump had lots of high hopes and faith for Colby. This all began when Donald Trump invited Colby Covington to the White House and even called him during an interview and congratulated him for his victory. Covington is an avid supporter of Trump.
“The Chaos” Covington as he was representing the US and his people, also shook hands with the former United States president, but his credence was uprooted when Leon Edwards defeated him by a split decision.
Colby Covington is a wrestler, as he tried to grapple Leon Edwards and put him in his submission but that did not work well enough for him Edwards managed to get back up and escaped the attempts Covington made for him to tap out. Leon Edwards counterattacked his grappling maneuvers. This caught Covington off guard when Edwards got back up on his feet and struck him in the face.
Leon Edwards Vs Colby Covington Fight Highlights #UFC296 pic.twitter.com/Fb8o7SqbHh
— MJ Grizas (@mgrizas) December 17, 2023
They were both exchanging blows and that’s when Covington was looking to finish the game by striking Edwards but it didn’t work well against him as he was dodging his blows which made him calculate an opening and clipped Covington multiple times.
In the final round, Covington held Edwards in the mount position looking for a triangle hold, which seemed very difficult for Edwards to escape but Edwards kept being rebellious till the end of the final round. When the bell rang it was announced that Leon Edwards was the winner by split decision.
