Leon Edwards has made the second defence of his UFC welterweight title with a dominant points win over Colby Covington in Las Vegas.
The build-up to the main event at UFC 296 was overshadowed by the crass comments that were made by Covington regarding Edwards's late father.
Edwards has since acknowledged that the remarks affected him ahead of facing the brash American, but the British fighter was able to respond with a textbook performance to nullify the challenger.
All three judges scored the bout 49-46 in Edwards's favour, with the champion gaining a foothold in the fight with leg kicks that ultimately left their toll on Covington.
Although Covington attempted to respond with a number of takedown attempts, his success was minimal as Edwards did an effective job of staying out of trouble.
DOMINANT from start to finish!!@Leon_EdwardsMMA went wire to wire in his victory over Colby Covington #UFC296 pic.twitter.com/BDRy5fxvkn
— UFC (@ufc) December 17, 2023
While his performance did not generate the thrills that came with his head-kick knockout of Kamaru Usman on his last appearance in the United States, this was a display that was still impressive in its own right.
On the undercard, fellow Brit Paddy Pimblett recorded the best win of his career as he claimed a points win over veteran Tony Ferguson.
The Liverpudlian secured 30-27 verdicts with the officials against the former interim world champion to move closer to a top-15 place in the rankings.
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