LAS VEGAS – The UFC 296 pre-fight news conference was quite the spectacle Thursday at MGM Grand Garden Arena, as it featured eight of the 10 main card combatants.
In Saturday’s main event at T-Mobile Arena, the welterweight title is on the line as champion Leon Edwards (21-3 MMA, 13-2 UFC) looks to defend gold vs. Colby Covington (17-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC). A second title fight between flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja (26-5 MMA, 10-3 UFC) and Brandon Royval (15-6 MMA, 5-2 UFC) is on tap for the co-main event.
Also on the main card, welterweight contenders Shavkat Rakhmonov (17-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) and Stephen Thompson (17-6-1 MMA, 12-6-1 UFC) collide in a matchup years in the making. Additionally, fan favorite Tony Ferguson (25-9 MMA, 15-7 UFC) aims to snap a lengthy skid against rising star Paddy Pimblett (20-3 MMA, 4-0 UFC).
Check out faceoffs for those four matchups in the video above.
The current UFC 296 fight card includes:
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)
- Champ Leon Edwards vs. Colby Covington – for welterweight title
- Champ Alexandre Pantoja vs. Brandon Royval – for flyweight title
- Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Stephen Thompson
- Tony Ferguson vs. Paddy Pimblett
- Josh Emmett vs. Bryce Mitchell
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN2/ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET)
- Dustin Jacoby vs. Alonzo Menifield
- Irene Aldana vs. Karol Rosa
- Cody Garbrandt vs. Brian Kelleher
- Ariane Lipski vs. Casey O’Neill
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 6 p.m. ET)
- Cody Durden vs. Tagir Ulanbekov
- Lucas Almeida vs. Andre Fili
- Martin Buday vs. Shamil Gaziev
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 296.
