The final PPV and final event of 2023 for the UFC arrived on Saturday with UFC 296: Edwards vs. Covington.
A welterweight title fight that was met with a groan from hardcore fans pining for a Belal Muhammad title shot topped the bill, but the ever-controversial Colby Covington had done what he could to sell the match-up with champ Leon Edwards. That included a reference to the British star’s murdered father, with Covington suggesting he’d see him in hell when he dragged Leon there. Classy.
Covington is not everyone’s cup of tea. Certainly not for Leon Edwards. Brandon Royval might be, a good guy, nice guy who happens to be an explosive flyweight that can finish on the ground and, as he proved in his last fight, on the feet. Yet in Alexandre Pantoja, who captured gold from Brandon Moreno earlier this year, Royval was tasked with not just winning, but beating a man who had soundly defeated him once before.
Our picks are in. It’s all come down to this final week in our staff pool. See who we think comes out ahead at UFC 296 below!
| Writer/Fight | Mitchell vs. Emmett | Pimblett vs. Ferguson | Rakhmonov vs. Thompson | Pantoja vs. Royval | Edwards vs. Covington |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Prawdzik (141-84) |  |  |  |  |  |
| Jamie Theodosi (136-81) | | | |  |  |
| Alex Behunin (139-85) |  |  | | | |
| Val Dewar (130-80) | | | | | |
| Cade Morehouse (83-55) | | | | | |
| Dylan Rush (113-100) | | | | | |
| Jay Anderson (126-104) | | | | | |
| Patrick McCorry (30-27) | | | | | |
| Eddie Law (105-106) | | | | | |
Let’s get this one out of the way first. No one picked Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson to win his fight against the unbeaten Kazakh Shavkat Rakhmonov. Thompson has been one of the most popular fighters in the welterweight division in recent years, and is a former title challenger. He can even count Jack Black among his fans. Yet our staff is 100% on the side of budding star Shavkat.
Nine writers responding this week were a lot more divided on the UFC 296 main card opener, with five favoring Bryce Mitchell over Josh Emmett. Paddy Pimblett had the edge 6-3 in his lightweight match-up with former interim champ Tony Ferguson, meanwhile.
That brings us to the title fights topping the UFC 296 card. Alexandre Pantoja gets the nod to retain, but it’s close, a 5-4 margin. That same margin has Leon Edwards retaining over Colby Covington in the main event.
