Leon Edwards retained his welterweight title after five rounds of battle against Colby Covington via decision in the main event of UFC 296.
Despite facing ‘Chaos’ Covington on his opponent’s turf in the USA, Leon Edwards displayed high-level combat and didn’t let his American rival get the upper hand. Colby Covington had returned to the ring after more than two years.
Riding on so much ring rust, Covington didn’t seem very comfortable trading shots with the UFC welterweight champion. He did his best and tried every possible move to grab the 170 lbs strap. It was indeed a close contest. However, Leon Edwards made sure to not let his championship status go away. Meanwhile, Edwards also pocketed a lucrative sum to close off 2023 in style.
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Did Leon Edwards Make More Money Than Colby Covington?
Per reports, Leon Edwards made more than $1 million in his UFC 296 headliner against Colby Covington. ‘Rocky’ had previously bagged million-dollar checks on his fight against Kamaru Usman. This time, he seems to have raked up those numbers to some extent.
‘Rocky’ Edwards was guaranteed $ 1 million base salary for appearing tonight. Besides, he revived finances from PPV bonus, sponsorships, and win bonus. It appears that Leon Edwards has made $1,642,000 (approximately) tonight. Meanwhile, Colby Covington was guaranteed $750K for the clash. After adding the PPV shares or sponsorship, Colby Covington’s net earnings from UFC 295 can be close to $800k- $850K.
While both the champions in the event could retain their titles, here’s a look at the complete results of UFC 296, the ast event of 2023.
Main Card
Leon Edwards (C) beats Colby Covington via decision (welterweight)
Alexandre Pantoja (C) beats Brandon Rovyal via decision (flyweight)
Shavkat Rakhmonov beats Stephen Thompson via submission in Round 2, 4:56 mins (welterweight)
Paddy Pimblett beats Tony Ferguson via decision (lightweight)
Josh Emmett beats Bryce Mitchell via KO in Round 1, 1:57 minutes (featherweight)
Preliminary Card
Alonzo Menifield beats Dustin Jacoby via decision (light heavyweight)
Irene Aldana beats Karol Rosa via decision (women’s bantamweight)
Cody Garbrandt beats Brian Kelleher via KO in Round 1, 3:42 mins (bantamweight)
Ariane Lipski beats Casey O’Neill via submission in Round 2, 1:18 mins (women’s flyweight)
Early Preliminary Card
Tagir Ulanbekov beats Cody Durden via submission in Round 2, 4:23 mins (flyweight)
Andre Fili beats Lucas Almeida via KO in Round 1, 3:32 mins (featherweight)
Shamil Gaziev beats Martin Buday via KO in Round 2, 0:56 mins (Heavyweight)
