It’s been almost a month since the last UFC title was up for grabs at New York City’s Madison Square Garden. We’ll head to another iconic sports city for UFC 296, as Las Vegas and T-Mobile Arena will play host to this event on Saturday night.
UFC 296 Odds
Leon Edwards -160
vs. Colby Covington +140
Alexandre Pantoja -190
vs. Brandon Royval +160
Stephen Thompson -600
vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov +450
Paddy Pimblett -300
vs. Tony Ferguson +240
Bryce Mitchell -230
vs. Josh Emmett +180
Irene Aldana -200
vs. Karol Rosa +165
Cody Garbrandt -210
vs. Brian Kelleher +170
Casey Oneill -190
vs. Ariane Lipski +160
Dustin Jacoby -270
vs. Alonzo Menifield +220
There are belts on the line in the Welterweight and Flyweight divisions, with a few other particularly interesting matchups in the leadup to the co-main events. Let’s jump in with a preview of the marquee portions of the event and some best bets.
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Edwards Faces Controversial Covington
In the first Main Event, Leon Edwards will square off against Colby Covington in the Welterweight Championship.
Even for casual UFC fans, Covington is a known figure, so this fight is going to get a ton of attention. Like his personality, there are also very few questions about his fighting style and his primary paths to victory are pretty clear. He was a wrestler from his childhood up through college, where he reached the NCAA tournament, won All-American honors, and won conference championships on two separate occasions.
That background in wrestling combined with his endurance has been a key to his success. Of his 12 UFC wins, three have come via submission while seven have come via decision – including six of his last seven victories. Takedowns and grinding this fight to a slow pace is his path to a win here.
Edwards is the current champ of the weight class, defeating Kamaru Usman twice to do so. The first time may have been a fluky knockout just before the final bell, but he then followed that up with a fairly dominant victory by majority decision in a rematch.
Edwards, Covington Similar Fighting Styles
In some ways, his style resembles that of Covington in that he is comfortable grinding out bouts to earn victories. In 15 UFC fights— in which Edwards has been victorious 13 times – nine have come via decision. Edwards is also the better striker compared to Covington, an important factor given his two-inch advantage in both arm and leg reach.
Covington has the advantage as a wrestler, and he’ll need to dominate that area if he plans to win this fight. However, he’s only 2-2 in his last four matches, losing to the aforementioned Usman on each occasion. He also hasn’t been in the octagon for 21 months. Meanwhile, Edwards has beaten Usman twice since Covington has fought.
Edwards is the favorite, and rightfully so. Covington is a tough person and fighter, however, so it won’t be easy. Each fighter lasts an average of 16:30 per bout, which leads us to a few different angles to attack this one.
(logo/link) At Tipico Sportsbook Colorado and New Jersey customers can deposit $100 or more of real money on their first deposit to receive up to $500 in protected bets!
Champion Pantoja Defends Title Against Royval
The second Main Event is between Alexandre Pantoja vs. Brandon Royval for the Flyweight Championship.
Pantoja is the current holder of the belt in this division and is defending his crown for the first time since defeating Brandon Moreno in early July. He’s won four consecutive fights, two via decision and two via submission. Though he’s won only two fights in the UFC via KO or TKO, Pantoja has a significant advantage as a striker over Royval (4.41 significant strikes per minute vs. 3.45 for Royval).
If there were to be a case for Royval, it would be his track record in the UFC (5-2) and his ability to get the job done on the mat. Four of his fights have ended via submission – he’s 3-1 – but the problem is that he lost to Pantoja via rear-naked choke roughly 28 months ago. As was noted, Royval has won three straight so maybe his momentum will carry him.
(logo/link) At Tipico Sportsbook Colorado and New Jersey customers can deposit $100 or more of real money on their first deposit to receive up to $500 in protected bets!
