UFC 296 Fight Card, Location, Date, Time
UFC 296 PPV is a pay-per-view event from UFC- 14th one in the year 2023. The event took place on December 16, 2023, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV. The headliner was a welterweight title fight between Leon Edwards and Colby Covington. The flyweight title fight between Alexander Pantoja and Brandon Royval was the co-main event.
Event Info
FIGHT CARD
MAIN CARD
Main Event: Leon Edwards(c) vs Colby Covington
- Result: Leon Edwards won via unanimous decision(49-46, 49-46, 49-46)
- Division/title: UFC Welterweight Championship
- Weight: Leon Edwards (170 lbs), Colby Covington (169.5 lbs)
Co-Main Event: Alexandre Pantoja(c) vs Brandon Royval
- Result: Alexandre Pantoja won via unanimous decision(50-45, 50-45, 49-46).
- Division/title: UFC Flyweight Championship
- Weight: Alexandre Pantoja (125 lbs), Brandon Royval (124.5 lbs)
Stephen Thompson vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov
- Result: Shavkat Rakhmonov won via submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:56 of round 2
- Division/title: Welterweight
- Weight: Stephen Thompson (171 lbs), Shavkat Rakhmonov (171 lbs)
- More Details
Tony Ferguson vs. Paddy Pimblett
- Result: Paddy Pimblett won via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Division/title: Lightweight
- Weight: Tony Ferguson (155.5 lbs), Paddy Pimblett (155.5 lbs)
- More Details
Josh Emmett vs Bryce Mitchell
- Result: Josh Emmett won via KO (Punch) at 1:57 of round 1
- Division/title: Featherweight
- Weight: Josh Emmett (146 lbs). Bryce Mitchell (145.5 lbs)
- More Details
PRELIMS
Alonzo Menifield vs Dustin Jacoby
- Result: Alonzo Menifield won via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28
- Division/title: Light Heavyweight
- Weight: Alonzo Menifield (204.5 lbs), Dustin Jacoby (204.5 lbs)
- More Details
Irene Aldana vs Karol Rosa
- Result: Irene Aldana won via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Division/title: Women’s Bantamweight
- Weight: Irene Aldana (136 lbs), Karol Rosa (135.5 lbs)
- More Details
Cody Garbrandt vs Brian Kelleher
- Result: Cody Garbrandt won via KO (Punch) at 3:42 of round 1
- Division/title: Bantamweight
- Weight: Cody Garbrandt (136 lbs), Brian Kelleher (136 lbs)
- More Details
Ariane Lipski vs Casey O’Neill
- Result: Ariane Lipski won via submission(armbar) at 1:18 of round 2
- Division/title: Women’s Flyweight
- Weight: Ariane Lipski (126 lbs), Casey O’Neill (125 lbs)
- More Details
EARLY PRELIMS
Tagir Ulanbekov vs Cody Durden
- Result: Tagir Ulanbekov won via submission(rear-naked choke) at 4:25 of round 2
- Division/title: Flyweight
- Weight: Tagir Ulanbekov (126 lbs), Cody Durden (126 lbs)
- More Details
Andre Fili vs Lucas Almeida
- Result: Andre Fili won via TKO at 3:32 of round 1
- Division/title: Featherweight
- Weight: Andre Fili (145.5 lbs), Lucas Almeida (146 lbs)
- More Details
Shamil Gaziev vs Martin Buday
- Result: Shamil Gaziev won via TKO at 0:56 of round 2
- Division/title: Heavyweight
- Weight: Shamil Gaziev (259 lbs), Martin Buday (264.5 lbs)
- More Details
EVENT NOTES
UFC has held a PPV event at T-Mobile Arena every year in December since 2016, except the years 2017 and 2020. Continuing the tradition, the promotion held a PPV event on December 16, 2023, which was UFC 296. It was the fourth event from UFC at the arena in 2023 after UFC 285, UFC 290, and Noche UFC event.
Conor McGregor was long rumored to fight Michael Chandler at this event. McGregor and Chandler were the rival coaches in The Ultimate Fighter Season 31. McGregor tweeted in August that the fight in December was back on the table. Later, he also tweeted a graphic for his main event at UFC 296. However, that graphic was later confirmed to be fake.
Leon Edwards revealed in July that he was looking to fight Colby Covington in the last quarter on the year. Dana White announced on September 20 that Edwards vs Covington fight would headline this event. Belal Muhammad was later announced to be the backup fighter for this title fight.
Additionally, the co-main event was also revealed to be a rematch between Alexander Pantoja and Brandan Royval with Pantoja’s flyweight title on the line. Pantoja defeated Royval in August 2021 in their first encounter. MMA Reported Marcel Dorff reported that former champion Brandon Moreno was the backup fighter for this title fight.
CANCELED OR POSTPONED BOUTS
- Josh Emmett vs Giga Chikadze(Chikadze pulled out due to injury)
- Vicente Luque vs Ian Garry(Garry pulled out due to pneumonia)
- Randy Brown vs Muslim Salikhov(Brown removed due to illness)
DEBUTS
- Shamil Gaziev