UFC 296 in Las Vegas is set to be headlined by a Welterweight Championship bout between current UFC Welterweight champion Leon Edwards and former interim champion Colby Covington.

Also on the card is Alexandre Pantoja, who defends his UFC Flyweight Championship title against Brandon Royval.

Edwards v Covington fight date

The fight between British star Leon Edwards and US welterweight Colby Covington is scheduled to take place on Saturday, 16th December 2023, although in the UK it will be early on Sunday morning, 17th December.

Edwards v Covington time

The ring walks for the clash between Leon Edwards and Colby Covington are expected to take place in the early hours of Sunday 17th December, with the fight given a potential start time of around 5:00 GMT.

Edwards v Covington venue and location

The Leon Edwards-Colby Covington fight will take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, in the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area in the United States.

The 20,000-capacity venue was opened in April 2016 and has served as the home stadium for NHL side Vegas Golden Knights since 2017.

There have been regular UFC events at the stadium since its opening, with UFC 200: Tate vs. Nunes the first to be held there in July 2016. 

The following year the UFC signed a seven-year agreement to become an official tenant of the T-Mobile Arena and plenty of big names have fought there in recent times, including Connor McGregor, Dustin Poirier, Nate Diaz and Israel Adesanya.

The venue has also hosted several big boxing bouts, including Tyson Fury versus Deontay Wilder III in October 2021, while Dua Lipa, My Chemical Romance and Muse are just some of the big names from the music world to have performed there.

How to watch Edwards v Covington

The main card will be shown live on TNT Sports in the UK, while the broadcast partners will be different in other countries.

The prelims, which are set to get under way at around 23:30 UK time, are set to be broadcast live on the UFC Fight Pass.

Edwards v Covington odds

Defending champion Leon Edwards is the 4/5 favourite to win the fight, Colby Covington is available at 1/1.

Are there any belts on the line for Edwards v Covington?

The UFC Welterweight Championship is up for grabs with Edwards defending his belt for the second time. 

The 32-year-old was first crowned Welterweight Champion when he beat Kamaru Usman in August 2022 and he successfully defended his title against the same opponent in a rematch in London at UFC 286 in March. 

Edwards is hoping to become the first Briton in history to make two successful UFC title defences as he headlines the final UFC pay-per-view event of the year.

Covington is making his return after over a year - he was last in UFC action when he beat Jorge Masvidal over five rounds at UFC 272 in March 2022.

Leon Edwards' record

Leon Edwards has won 21 of his 25 professional MMA fights, losing three, with one no contest on his record. That came against Belal Muhammad in March 2021 when an accidental eye poke rendered Muhammad unable to continue.

Colby Covington's record

Colby Covington has 17 wins, three losses and no draws as a professional with his three defeats coming against Kamaru Usman (twice in 2019 and 2021) and, before that, against Warlley Alves in 2015.

Edwards v Covington fight card

Main Card

• Leon Edwards v Colby Covington (Welterweight) 
• Alexandre Pantoja v Brandon Royval (Flyweight) 

Undercard

• Tony Ferguson v Paddy Pimblett (Lightweight)
• Shavkat Rakhmonov v Stephen Thompson (Welterweight) 
• Vicente Luque v Ian Machado Garry (Welterweight) 
• Josh Emmett v Giga Chikadze (Featherweight) 
• Alonzo Menifield v Dustin Jacoby (Light Heavyweight) 
• Martin Buday v Shamil Gaziev (Heavyweight)
• Irene Aldana v Karol Rosa (Women's Bantamweight) 
• Randy Brown v Muslim Salikhov (Welterweight) 
• Tagir Ulanbekov v Cody Durden (Flyweight) 
• Casey O'Neill v Ariane Lipski (Women's Flyweight) 
• Cody Garbrandt v Brian Kelleher (Bantamweight)