A welterweight title fight between the division’s reigning champion, Leon Edwards, and number two ranked Colby Covington will headline UFC 296 on Dec. 16 in Las Vegas.
In the number two ranked event of the numbered event, Alesandre Pantoja will make his lightweight title defense against Brandon Royval, ranked fourth in the division.
The title bouts were officially announced by UFC CEO Dana White.
On March 18 at UFC 286 in London, Leon Edwards successfully defended his UFC welterweight championship belt by defeating former division champion Kamara Usman by majority decision over five rounds. Last August, the Brit made one of the most high-profile upsets in mixed martial arts history, knocking out the Nigerian with a leg kick to the head 56 seconds into the fifth round to take the title from him.
Colby Covington, who insured a title rematch between Edwards and Usman, last fought last March, defeating Jorge Masvidal by unanimous decision in five rounds.
Alexandre Pantoja defeated Brandon Moreno by split decision in June to take the UFC flyweight championship belt from him, and Brandon Royval is riding a three-fight win streak, having knocked out Mateus Nicolau in his last fight.
Source: https://fighttime.ru/news/item/32677-boj-leona-edvardsa-i-kolbi-kovingtona-naznachen-ofitsialno.html?rand=19907
