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Dana White acknowledged Colby Covington’s poor showing against Leon Edwards in the UFC 296 main event.

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White was the one to propose Covington’s name for the title shot although Belal Muhammad, on a 10-fight winning streak, was widely considered to be the rightful contender. White adamantly went ahead with his decision despite Edwards repeatedly pointing out Covington’s long layoff and lack of recent success.

Edwards vowed to give “Chaos” a rude awakening and delivered on his promise at the UFC 296 headliner. “Rocky” outstruck Covington on the feet, stuffed his wrestling game and even went on to land his own takedowns. Covington bizarrely went on to raise his hands after the lackluster showing and even doubled down on his stance in the post-fight presser, crying robbery due to alleged political bias.

However, even White couldn’t disagree more with Covington, who appeared “slow and old” to the Ultimate Fighting Championship…

Three fights have been announced for ONE 166: Qatar! 🇶🇦 Who would you like to see headline this historic card?#ONE166 | March 1 at 3:30PM AST🎟️ Early bird tickets:https://t.co/Wcx1ykvL1Jhttps://t.co/9mAnyrbScE🌍 Live TV broadcast in 190+ countries👨‍💻 How to watch coming… pic.twitter.com/mDoaoDbzgQ

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) December 18, 2023

Three bouts, including a title fight, have been confirmed for ONE 166 “Qatar,” which also marks the promotion’s debut in the country.

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Jarred Brooks (20-2) is set to defend his 125-pound strap against former champ Joshua Pacio (20-4) in a title rematch at ONE 166 on March 1 at Lusail Sports Arena. Brooks hasn’t competed in mixed martial arts since dethroning Pacio via decision at ONE 164 in December 2022. “The Monkey God” is coming off a submission loss against Mikey Musumeci in a grappling match this past August. Meanwhile, his upcoming opponent returned to the win column …

Colby Covington may have seemed muted in the cage at UFC 296, but afterward he was right back to his usual, brazen self.

“Chaos” fell short in his bid to unseat Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight king Leon Edwards in Saturday’s main event, losing the first four rounds on all judges’ scorecards and seeming hesitant to apply his trademark pressure and wrestling. Afterward, Covington raised his hands as if to celebrate a win, and appeared surprised when the scores were read and the winner announced.

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Covington doubled down on his stance in his post-fight interview, saying he thought he had done enough to get his hands raised. He further claimed to have been robbed of a title victory due to the judges’ political bias against former US President Donald Trump, who had been in attendance. Covington said:

“I thought the third, fourth and fifth rounds were mine. The fifth was mine, easily. Fourth, I thought was mine too, and I thought I did enough …

Belal Muhammad was among those unimpressed by the Ultimate Fighting Championship main event on Saturday.

Muhammad, who weighed in as the backup fighter for the UFC 296 headliner between welterweight champ Leon Edwards and challenger Colby Covington, did not mince words in talking about the fight, which Edwards won via unanimous decision. While the build-up to the fight seemed to promise fireworks, as the challenger’s trash talk about Edwards’ late father drew a furious reaction from the champ, the fight itself was a lackluster affair, as Covington failed to engage his vaunted pressure and wrestling for most of the five rounds. At the UFC 296 post-fight show, “Remember the Name” said:

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“Honestly, it was a joke to the division. That’s what happens when you get a bum off the couch [Covington] who’s been out for two years, who didn’t deserve the shot, and he goes out there and he didn’t back up the talk. For Leon Edwards, you should have backed up your t…

One of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s most battle-tested veterans is facing indefinite shelf time.

UFC featherweight Darren Elkins announced via his social media that he had suffered a serious injury in practice. “The Damage” wrote on his Instagram, “Current situation: I snapped my tibia and fibula in my right leg by freak accident during jiu-jitsu last night. Just got out of surgery where they put a nail in my leg.”

There is no information right now about a potential return timeline for Elkins, but the recuperation is likely to be long; lower leg breaks suffered by such well-known fighters as Anderson Silva, Chris Weidman and Conor McGregor kept them out of action for at least a year in every case: bad news for the 39-year-old Elkins.

Elkins is coming off a third-round submission win over T.J. Brown in October in his lone outing of the year. He has gone 2-2 in his last four but remains popular for his toughness and his penchant for comeback wins. …

Shavkat Rakhmonov notched the biggest win of his career on Saturday, but it turns out he nearly didn’t make it to the cage at all.

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Rakhmonov handed Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson his first ever submission loss via a second-round rear naked choke on the UFC 296 main card at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. This marked the 18th finish for the undefeated Kazakh in as many career outings, including six in the UFC. Having now notched wins over tested welterweights like Geoff Neal, Neil Magny and now Thompson, “Nomad” called for a title shot next.

After the event, “Nomad” revealed that he suffered a major ligament tear in his ankle six weeks out from his clash against Thompson which curtailed his kicking game and had him contemplating withdrawing from the event entirely. Rakhmonov said during the post-fight show:

“I had a very serious injury and I was even close to pulling out from the fight, but I decided to risk it all. and that’s why I didn’t …

Rather than celebrate the most impressive knockout of his career, Josh Emmett sat silently across the cage.

Emmett (19-4) put out Bryce Mitchell’s lights with a violent overhand right less than two minutes into the opening frame of their meeting in the main card opener at UFC 296 on Saturday in Las Vegas. The brutality of the knockout sunk in as Mitchell, now 16-2, could be seen convulsing on the canvas moments later and was still on wobbly legs while being helped out of the Octagon. What would otherwise have been cause for celebration—a knockout sure to win a “Performance of the Night” bonus from the UFC, and the end of the first losing streak of Emmett’s career—instead became a somber moment.

The Team Alpha Male representative said during the post-fight media scrum that only after the initial rush of emotion did he realize the damage he had inflicted on his opponent. “When I hit him I got excited and then and I looked over and he’s still down and it’s like it’s hard…

Sean Strickland recently penned an emotional note in response to digs taken at his abusive childhood by Sean O'Malley and Dricus Du Plessis.

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Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight titleholder Strickland recently engaged in a number of unpleasant exchanges, initially with bantamweight champion O’Malley and then with Du Plessis, against whom Strickland is scheduled to defend his belt at UFC 297 next month. during the UFC’s seasonal press conference in Las Vegas, meant to promote upcoming matchups from early 2024. Strickland kicked off the banter by mocking O’Malley for “trying to let dudes f--- his wife.”

“Sugar” responded with an equally below-the-belt comment: “At least my dad didn’t f--- me.”

This prompted Strickland to go on a profanity-filled rant against O’Malley until he was cut off by UFC CEO Dana White.

“Oh this fucking guy, man. UFC, whatever happened to you guys? We used to have real men. And now we got the f—king clown over he…

Absolutely no doubt about it 🔥

Irene Aldana vs Karol Rosa is your #UFC296 Fight of the Night!

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[ B2YB @ToyoTires ] pic.twitter.com/maS1TifMhm — UFC (@ufc) December 17, 2023 The Ultimate Fighting Championship awarded four fighters performance bonuses following the UFC 296 card.

Fight of the Night went to Irene Aldana and Karol Rosa. The duo's prelim scrap was a back-and-forth war that lasted 15 minutes. Both women kept coming forward despite the damage taken, and fans were appreciative of their efforts. Aldana would take a unanimous decision win with three 29-28 cards given in her favor.

The three other Performance of the Night bonuses were well-earned. Josh Emmett earned an extra $50,000 for his shocking knockout of Bryce Mitchell, which left the featherweight convulsing on the floor afterward. The "Queen of Violence," Ariane Lipski, also received a bonus for her impressive armbar submission win over Casey O'N…

The full incident between Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis at #UFC296 tonight.

Bring on #UFC297 in January! pic.twitter.com/HQt0Uj1jiv

— UFC (@ufc) December 17, 2023

@RobbieBarstool pic.twitter.com/7BJ7cfrput

— JoshIsner (@JoshIsner) December 17, 2023

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Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis went at it near the cage while in attendance for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s last pay-per-view event and card of 2023.

Strickland is scheduled to defend his middleweight strap in the UFC 297 headliner on Jan. 20 in Toronto. As it turned out, the two came too close for comfort at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas for UFC 296.

The two got into a dustup in the crowd, which ended with law enforcement intervening and escorting the middleweight champ out of the arena.

UFC lightweight Jared Gordon, who was also in the arena, witnessed the scuffle and claimed on his X account, formerly k…

Leon Edwards proved yet again that bite matters far more than bark in a dog-eat-dog world.

The Team Renegade star kept his emotions in check and outstruck Colby Covington across five rounds to retain the undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight title with a unanimous decision in the UFC 296 headliner on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Edwards (22-3, 14-2 UFC) swept the scorecards with 49-46 marks from all three members of the cageside judiciary.

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Covington (17-4, 12-4 UFC) seemed tentative and unsure of himself, and while he delivered takedowns in the third and fifth rounds, he failed to consolidate them with anything meaningful. The spaces in between were dominated by Edwards. He chopped away at Covington’s lead leg with kicks, leaned on surgical counters and hammered the MMA Masters rep’s midsection with front kicks. The challenger scrambled into top position in the back half of Round 5 and applied some mild ground-and-pound,…

Sherdog's live UFC 296 coverage will begin Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ET. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Buday (-148), Gaziev (+124)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round:

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Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round: The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Fili (-175), Almeida (+145)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round:The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Ulanbekov (-170), Dur…