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UFC 296: Edwards v Covington — Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images

Last night (Sat., Dec. 16, 2023), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) took the short trip over to T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada for UFC 296. The final pay-per-view (PPV) event of the year brought with it a pair of top-notch title fights, as well as a talent-rich undercard. Even a handful of late cancellations couldn’t dampen the hype, as the card promised to close 2023 with a bang.

Let’s take a look at UFC 296’s best performances and techniques:

A Bizarre Strategy

Colby Covington’s strategic choices boggle the mind.

Covington waited until the fourth round to check a low kick. He waited until the fourth round to really commit to his takedowns at range. Coincidentally, the fourth round also marked the point where “Chaos” started landing decent punches and worked his way back into the fight. Of course, by that point it was already too late, so …

What was he thinking?

I have a few theories. There’s ring rust, of course. It’s been over two years since Covington last fought. 35 year olds don’t tend to wrestle well either, so maybe it’s a simple case of age. Then, there’s always the chance of a knee injury. Or, alternatively, it was just an abysmally bad performance from a fighter being given one last shot at gold.

Whatever the case, Covington s—t the bed, plain and simple.

Leon Edwards, conversely, was treated to an easy night at the office! For three full rounds, he enjoyed a low output kickboxing match with a mediocre technical striker. Edwards loves low output kickboxing! That’s his whole brand! And credit to “Rocky,” he looked tremendously sharp, punishing Covington consistently with hard counters, snapping body kicks, and painful low kicks. He broke the wrestler down and made him look mediocre, only really getting in any trouble when he took too many chances with his takedown defense.

Just like that, Edwards closes the year with two title defenses, and neither looked that difficult for him!

Pantoja Retains

There were some fun scrambles, but I won’t pretend Alexandre Pantoja vs. Brandon Royval was anywhere near the calibre of Pantoja vs. Brandon Moreno. There’s a simple reason why, too.

Royval couldn’t stop the shot at all.

Wrestling remains a huge hole in Royval’s game. He did a good job of being frustrating from bottom position, kicking at the hips and throwing punches from his back. As for actually standing up though? Not great. He also wasn’t able to threaten Pantoja, an elite jiu-jitsu black belt, with his submission attack, so his bottom game felt one-note and without process overall.

On the feet, I have to say it felt like Pantoja landed the harder shots overall too. He ripped some serious body and low kicks, as well as finding many good right hand connections. Royval attacked in numbers, but he didn’t commit much weight to most of his strikes. Early on, that made sense given the takedown threat, but as the knockout slowly became his only hope at victory, it became a strange strategic choice.

Some folks online didn’t like the 50-45 Pantoja card, but I felt it justified. The Brazilian landed the heaviest strikes and racked up minute after minute of control time — that’s a clean win.

Sorry Belal

Unlike seemingly many fight fans, I do not hate Belal Muhammad. He’s clearly earned a title shot, and I really admire his ability to adjust his skills to the challenge and routinely beat more athletically gifted opposition.

I’d still rather see Shavkat Rakhmonov fight for the belt though. How can you possibly argue with 18-0 and 18 finishes? “Nomad” isn’t a perfect fighter as detractors are quick to point out, but he might just be the most overwhelming offensive force at 170 lbs. since … prime Robbie Lawler?

The difference between Rakhmonov and most is that he’s an absolute killer in two realms. He just threw “Wonderboy” to the floor (with difficulty) and then submitted him (without difficulty). That’s one way to handle an elite striker. Geoff Neal is also an elite striker, but Rakhmonov battered him mostly with stand up skills — an entirely different way to defeat a top talent.

A fighter like Belal or Gilbert Burns could smother “Wonderboy,” but they aren’t going to beat up Neal. Much of the top Welterweight rank are wrestlers, and they’re probably going to have to stand with the 29-year-old “Nomad.”

Good f—king luck.

Do NOT Let That Man Hit You

Josh Emmett is a scary individual.

On one hand, I understand why he was the underdog versus Bryce Mitchell. Emmett is 38 years old and had lost two in a row, whereas Mitchell was nearly a decade younger and has only ever lost once. Momentum-wise, “Thug Nasty” had a lot going for him.

The style match up though? Emmett has never been easy to take down, and he hits worlds harder than Mitchell. Even coming off a couple tough losses, it was clear that Emmett had a huge striking advantage, and that’s before considering the simple fact that Mitchell took the fight on short-notice.

The perfect right hand connection shouldn’t have been a shock. Mitchell’s unconscious and shaking body prominently displayed afterward though? Yeah, that was pretty freaking shocking.

Getting hit by Josh Emmett is real bad for your health.

The Best Women’s Bantamweight Fight Ever?

I cannot think of a better one!

Irene Aldana vs. Karol Rosa, first and foremost, was a war of attrition. These two ladies beat the unholy crap out of one another for 15 full minutes. Even when one athlete was in control, the other was still firing in volume and doing damage.

Secondly, it was a game of distance. In the first round, the two competed at the jabbing and kicking range. Rosa punished the inside thigh repeatedly with low kicks, and she landed a ton of counters too. The low kicks were the story of the first five minutes, as Aldana’s leg grew swollen and hampered her movement.

The Mexican boxer adjusted, however. She didn’t successfully check any kicks, but she was able to stay a step closer to Rosa, allowing her own combinations to land. Damage upstairs and a hard pace saw Rosa’s feet slow a bit, granting Aldana more and more success.

The third round was her best. Aldana closed the average distance another half step, and she was subsequently able to rip apart the liver with good consistency. When Rosa grew even more fatigued from the damage, Aldana took her punches back upstairs and carved her face up to secure the decision nod.

In Aldana’s last fight, she faced a ton of criticism for really failing to open up against Amanda Nunes. She never gave herself a shot at the upset, and fans really questioned her fighting spirit and grit.

Nobody is wondering anymore.

Speed Still Kills

Former Bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt has seen his shares of ups-and-downs, but he’s been wildly fast the whole time.

That speed proved too much for Brian Kelleher, whose own knockout power and durability presented some threats to “No Love.” Outside of some calf kicks, however, Kelleher just couldn’t find his mark. Whenever Garbrandt did burst forward, he snuck punches through Kelleher’s high guard, and it was fairly clear from the early exchanges that Garbrandt’s power was bothering the veteran. Midway through the first, a Garbrandt right hand interrupted a Kelleher kick and sent him to the floor, face-first.

Outside of a slick elbow Garbrandt scored along the fence, this was mostly the usual mix of weapons from “No Love.” Still, it was a better mix of aggression and tactics, and the former champion is now riding his first win streak since 2016.

Maybe he can keep building?

The Queen Of Violence!

Ariane Lipski steamrolled Casey O’Neill as an underdog.

A UFC veteran since 2019, Lipski didn’t start her UFC career off with much success despite a strong KSW background. It’s taken some time for her to find her footing, but the Brazilian talent has really changed things around to produce her current three-fight win streak.

Right away, she set the tone against O’Neill. She threw in combination, tying together crisp punches with punishing kicks. O’Neill couldn’t keep up with her volume or power, but when she tried to change levels, Lipski showed improved physicality and shucked her right off. Before long, Lipski was really hurting O’Neill with her shots. O’Neill was forced to dive for takedowns desperately and nearly got her arm ripped off as a result.

It’s easy to overlook that despite the fact that Lipski has 24 professional fights — which is a fairly large number in the Women’s MMA sphere — she’s only 29 years of age. The Flyweight is just now entering her prime, and perhaps that can equate to a real run at the top.

An Early Preliminary BANG

Andre Fili landed one hell of a right hand on Lucas Almeida midway through the first round.

The fight warmed up at a measured pace. Fili feinted a lot and shifted stances, drawing a lot of low kicks from the Brazilian. A good percentage of them missed, but more importantly, Fili was finding his own offensive flow early. When “Touchy” fired a body kick or combination, his attack tended to land, even if he still kept the volume low.

Almeida stayed committed to his low kicks, but that proved to be his undoing. Fili stepped up the middle as Almeida kicked with a double jab-right hand, and that power shot landed with an audible blast. A flurry of follow up punches sealed the deal, scoring Fili his first knockout win since 2019.

That’s what happens when a talented vet gets a rare (slight) step back in competition.

Additional Thoughts

Tagir Ulanbekov defeats Cody Durden via second-round rear naked choke: Ulanbekov really does resemble a Flyweight Islam Makhachev (in terms of style rather than overall dominance). He stung Durden badly with an early counter shot, and though Durden was able to fight his way back into the contest on the feet, Ulanbekov’s wrestling and grappling were too much. His throws in the clinch were utterly beautiful, and once the Russian moved into back mount, it was abundantly clear that he’s an expert from that position. Durden showed his grit by fighting off several deep chokes, but he also failed to lock down two-on-one control from the standing back position, which meant that Ulanbekov could fully commit to the face crank and wrench his head off.
Shamil Gaziev defeats Martin Buday via second-round knockout (HIGHLIGHTS): That’s one way to make a UFC debut! It’s unusual for Contenders Series products to debut straight against ranked opposition, but well, it’s Heavyweight! Regardless of the circumstance, Gaziev proved his talent by bullying Buday from the first bell, outwrestling the large veteran and overwhelming him with power shots from close distance. Could he have kept it up for the full three rounds? Probably not, but winning at the six minute mark solved that issue before it could arise.

For complete UFC 296: “Edwards vs. Covington” results and play-by-play, click HERE!