The bout, which took place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, went the full distance and ended with the Brit winning by unanimous 49-46 three-round decision. The champion dominated the challenger in the standup for much of the match, and was also unafraid to fight him, holding several attempts to finish the American by choke.
In the fifth round, Edwards attempted to throw a triangle choke but did not follow through with the submission and allowed Covington to control himself for about two minutes in the parterre until the final siren.
In a post-fight interview, the British fighter admitted that he found it very difficult to control his emotions after the American had pissed him off at the press conference by talking about his dead father. Covington responded by saying that he considered himself the winner of the fight, promising a triumphant return to the octagon next year.
In the co-main event, reigning UFC flyweight champion, Brazilian Alesandre Pantoja, made the first successful defense of his title, defeating American Brandon Royval twice by unanimous decision 49-46 and 50-45 at the end of five rounds.
In the third event of the tournament, undefeated Kazakh welterweight Shavkat Rakhmonov earned his sixth early UFC victory, finishing former title challenger Stephen Thompson with a rear-naked choke four seconds before the end of the second round, who had never lost by submission until that point.
In a failed attempt to get his career back on track after six straight losses, former interim UFC lightweight champion Tony Ferguson lost a three-round unanimous decision to British prospect Paddy Pimblett, who dominated the American in the parterre for most of the match.
The main card opened with a featherweight bout between Josh Emmett and Bryce Mitchell, in which the latter was knocked out at the end of the second minute of the match by a crushing right jab.
Other results included a successful performance by former UFC flyweight champion Cody Garbrandt, who knocked out Brian Kelleher in the opening five minutes, and a win by Russian Tagir Ulanbekov, who finished American Cody Durden with a neckbreaker in the second round.
Ariani Lipski, Andre Fili and Dagestan-born Shamil Gaziev, who was making his debut for the organization, representing Bahrain, recorded early victories.
All results from UFC 296.