Leon Edwards shut down Colby Covington to retain his UFC welterweight title last night (Sat., Dec. 16, 2023) at UFC 296 live on ESPN+ PPV from inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. In the co-main event, UFC flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja successfully defended his title with a dominant decision win over Brandon Royval.
In addition to the two title fights, UFC 296 provided fight fans will memorable action to close out the year. Check out some of the highlight moments below and let us know which performance stood out the most:
- Undefeated heavyweight newcomer Shamil Gaziev looked great in a second-round TKO victory over Martin Buday (watch HERE)
- Featherweight veteran Andre Fili looked better than ever when he stopped Lucas Almeida with a nasty first-round TKO (highlights HERE)
- Women’s bantamweight contenders Irene Aldana and Karol Rosa went toe-to-toe in one of the best fights of 2023, but it was Aldana who won the bloody war
- Josh Emmett turned in one of the most vicious knockouts we’ve seen in a long time when he stopped Bryce Mitchell with one punch
- Shavkat Rakhmonov maintained his perfect finish rate with a sensational submission finish over former UFC welterweight title challenger Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson (watch HERE)
- Former UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt returned to form with a nasty knockout stoppage over Brian Kelleher (see it HERE)
- “Queen of Violence” Ariane Lipski captured the biggest win of her career with a dominant armbar finish over Casey O’Neill
In order to sift through the action and see which fighters took home an extra $50,000, we take a closer look at the official UFC 296 post-fight bonus winners below:
- Fight of the Night: Irene Aldana vs. Karol Rosa
- Performance of the Night: Josh Emmett
- Performance of the Night: Ariane Lipski
- Performance of the Night: Shamil Gaziev
For complete UFC 296 results, coverage, and highlights, click HERE.