UFC 296

UFC 296 full results: Leon Edwards dominates Colby Covington; Alexandre Pantoja retains title

UFC 296: Josh Emmett's hard right sends Bryce Mitchell into convulsions in scary scene

On the last UFC card of 2023, the two world title fights headlining UFC 296 featured a dominant champion retaining his belt via a unanimous decision.

Welterweight champion Leon Edwards, who is now 22-3 overall and unbeaten in his past 13 fights, easily defended his title belt against No. 3-ranked Colby Covington in the main event. "Chaos" is now 1-3 in title fights, with two losses to former champion Kamaru Usman and a win over Rafael dos Anjos in June 2018 for the interim welterweight title, which he was later stripped of due to injury.

In the co-main event, champion Alexandre Pantoja and Brandon Royval went the distance with Pantoja coming out on top. The Brazilian retained his title via unanimous decision with a dominant outing and now has the second most wins in the UFC's flyweight division with 11.

Also on the main card, Shavkat Rakhmonov improved his undefeated record to 18-0 with a second-round submission of veteran Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson. It was the first time in Thompson's pro career that he was finished by submission.

In his main card matchup against Paddy Pimblett, former interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson looked nothing like his former self and ended up losing his seventh fight in a row. On the other hand, Pimblett struggled to finish a 40-year-old Ferguson and seemed to be gassed out by the third round. Pimblett won 30-27 on all three judges' scorecards.

Featherweights Josh Emmett and Bryce Mitchell opened the pay-per-view card in a short-notice fight after Emmett's original opponent, Giga Chikadze, injured his groin in training and was forced to withdraw. The fight lasted less than two minutes as Emmett landed an epic overhand right that instantly knocked out Mitchell, who was seen going into convulsions after the finish.

UFC 296: Josh Emmett's hard right sends Bryce Mitchell into convulsions in scary scene

The hardest strike of  UFC 296 belonged to featherweight Josh Emmett, whose punching prowess caused a scary scene following his bout against Bryce Mitchell.

Emmett knocked Mitchell out cold with a single hard right midway through the first round of the main card opener in Las Vegas on Saturday, sending the 29-year-old into convulsions on the mat. It took multiple minutes for Mitchell to get into a state where he could walk on his own.

"I am the most powerful featherweight in the world. It only takes one shot," Emmett said after the fight. "I'm back baby. I'm f***ing back, you guys."

Emmett entered UFC 296 having lost his previous two fights against Yair Rodríguez and Ilia Topuria. The former fight was for the UFC interim featherweight championship, but the two losses pushed Emmett down to sixth in the promotion's rankings in the division.

Emmett was initially supposed to face Giga Chikadze at UFC 296, but an undisclosed injury forced Chikadze to bow out two weeks before the event. Mitchell stepped in on short notice, and ended up paying a price. Emmett said he appreciated the effort.

"I want to thank Bryce for taking the fight. He took it on two weeks' notice. He's a dangerous guy, I wish him nothing but the best," Emmett said.

The loss knocks Mitchell's record down to 16-2, but there are obviously bigger concerns for him after Saturday.

UFC 296 video: Tagir Ulanbekov taps Cody Durden with relentless submission attack

At UFC 296, Ulanbekov (14-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC) put forth a relentless performance against Durden (16-4-1 MMA, 5-2-1 UFC), who he submitted with a rear-naked choke at 4:25 of Round 2. The flyweight bout took place at T-Mobile Arena as part of the event’s prelims.

The bout was full of scrambles, submission attempts, and near-sunk-in chokes. While Durden shut down many of Ulanbekov’s attempts, he didn’t shut down them all – and that’s what mattered.

After a lengthy along-the-fence battle with Ulanbekov on his back, Durden was dragged to the canvas during a rear-naked choke attempt. The tap came seconds later.

DOMINANT from start to finish 🤫

Tagir Ulanbekov gets the tap in R2 over Cody Durden! #UFC296 pic.twitter.com/TgHXVJCLsj

— UFC (@ufc) December 17, 2023

With the win, Ulanbekov, an Islam Makhachev training partner, has now won back-to-back fights. His only career loss was a unanimous decision dropped to Tim Elliott in March 2022.

With the loss, Durden has a four-fight winning streak snapped. The stretch of success turned his career around after a 1-2-1 start to his promotional tenure.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 296 results include:

• https://www.toprevenuegate.com/gxtaeegi9i?key=c38d3eb9aeb2ab08ccb90ba4481ade7b Tagir Ulanbekov def. Cody Durden via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 4:25

• Andre Fili def. Lucas Almeida via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 3:32

• Shamil Gaziev def. Martin Buday via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 0:56

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 296.

UFC 296 video: Andre Fili finishes Lucas Almeida with mad flurry TKO

LAS VEGAS – He’s admittedly had ups and downs throughout his career, but Andre Fili left the cage on a high note at UFC 296.

In what was his first finish since July 2019, Fili (22-10 MMA, 10-9 UFC) finished Lucas Almeida (14-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) with a swarm Saturday at T-Mobile. The featherweight bout was the second fight on the prelims and ended at 3:32 of Round 1.

A beautiful and powerful right hand dropped Almeida and charged up Fili for an energetic flurry of punches until referee Jason Herzog dove in. While Almeida was still conscious, Almeida absorbed dozens of shots and struggled to get out from under Fili.

After the fight, Fili got emotional while talking to Joe Rogan during his in-cage interview. He talked about multiple personal losses, including having to recently put his dog down.

ANDRE FILI WITH A NASTY RIGHT HAND 💥

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) December 17, 2023

Fili has now won two of his most recent three fights. Conversely, Almeida falls into a two-fight skid.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 296 results include:

• Andre Fili def. Lucas Almeida via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 3:32

• Shamil Gaziev def. Martin Buday via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 0:56

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 296.

UFC 296 results: Alexandre Pantoja retains title, makes it two-for-two vs. Brandon Royval

LAS VEGAS – Alexandre Pantoja is still champion, and now two-for-two against Brandon Royval.

In the UFC 296 co-main event, Pantoja (27-5 MMA, 11-3 UFC) defeated Royval (15-7 MMA, 5-3 UFC) via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 49-46) to retain the promotion’s flyweight title. The bout took place Saturday at T-Mobile Arena.

For much of the five-round bout, Pantoja dominated Royval in the wrestling department. The crowd wasn’t the most thrilled with the decision-making by the champion, but it was effective.

After two rounds that largely consisted of Pantoja blanketing Royval on the ground, the fighters opened up – and there was more action – in Round 3. Pantoja stunned Royval on the feet twice over those five minutes. He sought an arm-triangle choke that Royval reversed. Pantoja quickly powered out of any danger.

Into the championship rounds, the fight went. Pantoja got another quick takedown on Royval and eventually worked to his back – seeking another rear-naked choke attempt. Although the body triangle was locked, Pantoja was unable to get a proper grip. He was close on one occasion that got a rise out of the crowd, but Royval broke through it.

Royval found his first significant amount of offense in the fight at the end of Round 4 when he reversed position on Pantoja and landed some ground-and-pound. Rather than defend the blows, Pantoja sought a leg submission, which opened him up for more punches. Royval’s success only lasted a handful of seconds before time expired.

The final round was Royval’s best. He appeared the fresher fighter in the opening minutes and tagged Pantoja with punches before being taken down. Royval wall-walked up but Pantoja dragged him back again.

#UFC296 results: Alexandre Pantoja ( https://www.toprevenuegate.com/mbniebzkyw?key=140d8caeb2afa1089a85856574a5f3df @PantojaMMA) def. Brandon Royval via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45-49-46) – to defend flyweight title

Full coverage: https://t.co/BjkSdOwAxh pic.twitter.com/aEv15jFWNo

— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) December 17, 2023

The victory marks Pantoja’s first title defense. He won the title by split decision against Brandon Moreno at UFC 290 in July. Pantoja has now won four fights in a row.

Royval has a three-fight winning streak snapped. He also lost a fight vs. Pantoja in August 2021. That one was by second-round submission.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 296 results include:

• Alexandre Pantoja def. Brandon Royval via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 49-46) – to retain flyweight title

• Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Stephen Thompson

• Paddy Pimblett def. Tony Ferguson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

• Josh Emmett def. Bryce Mitchell via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 1:57

• Alonzo Menifield def. Dustin Jacoby via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

• Irene Aldana def. Karol Rosa via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

• Cody Garbrandt def. Brian Kelleher via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 3:42

• Ariane Lipski def. Casey O’Neill via submission (armbar) – Round 2, 1:18

• Tagir Ulanbekov def. Cody Durden via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 4:25

• Andre Fili def. Lucas Almeida via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 3:32

• Shamil Gaziev def. Martin Buday via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 0:56

• UFC 296 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: 2023 total closes at $8.1 million

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  LAS VEGAS – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 296 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $339,500.

  The program, a comprehensive plan that includes outfitting requirements, media obligations and other items under the fighter code of conduct, replaces the previous payments made under the UFC Athlete Outfitting Policy.