Speculations around Colby Covington are gaining momentum ahead of his welterweight title fight against Leon Edwards at UFC 296. The online discussion surrounding Covington has fans worried about the highly anticipated fight.
The online MMA community went berserk when Belal Muhammad, UFC welterweight fighter, claimed on ‘X’ that Colby Covington had pulled out from the main event. He shared the news in the comments of a picture in which he claimed the new welterweight champion is coming soon.
The claims from Belal received mixed responses from the fans. The majority of the fans dismissed this claim as rumors while few even pointed out that if this news turned out to be true then Dana White would not give the fight to Belal since the welterweight went ahead and broke the news ahead of the official announcement.
UFC’s luck is not on their side in the recent two pay-per-view events. In UFC 294 Abu Dhabi, Charles Oliveira pulled out due to injury and was replaced by Alexander Volkanovski to face Islam Makhachev. In UFC 295, the whole main event between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic was canceled when Jones tore a pectoral tendon off the bone during his training.
There is currently no official news about any Colby Covington injury ahead of UFC 296 other than the online rumors. Dana White and MMA fans will be keeping their fingers crossed in the hope that both fighters can remain fit before the highly anticipated event on December 16, 2023, at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada.
How the rumors about Belal Muhammad vs Leon Edwards at UFC 296 started
The rumors about Colby Covington pulling out of UFC 296 started when user @Sa_Gwang tweeted about UFC 296. He wrote: “BREAKING: Colby Covington is OUT! Belal Muhammad will step in on short notice to take on Leon Edwards at UFC296 on December 16th.” The tweet was met with instant backlash from fellow MMA fans, who claimed that the news was baseless and incorrect.
🚨BREAKING: Colby Covington is OUT!
Belal Muhammad will step in on short notice to take on Leon Edwards at UFC296 on December 16th.#UFC296 pic.twitter.com/BfH7P3C2vD
— 𝕽𝖆𝖎𝖓𝖒𝖆𝖐𝖊𝖗❂ (@Sa_Gwang) November 30, 2023
However, the basic rumor snowballed into something bigger when Belal Muhammad himself tweeted and commented about the rumors. The fans were confused for a long time about the main event of UFC 296 before Belal himself added a clarification.
Rumor isn’t true ..If I was stepping in I’d be shouting it from the rooftops
— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) November 30, 2023
He tweeted: “Rumor isn’t true. If I was stepping in I’d be shouting it from the rooftops.” The clarification confirmed that the earlier remarks from Belal were just rumors and Covington is still slated to face Edwards in Nevada.
On second thought, the logic makes sense, if Belal Muhammad was replacing Colby Covington in UFC 296, he would be going ham on social media about the news rather than just tip-toeing around the rumor. At present, the main event of UFC 296 is expected to go underway as planned if, UFC bad luck with injuries doesn’t strike again, fingers crossed.
