UFC 296: What’s next for Leon Edwards, Colby Covington and more،
The UFC is officially on hiatus until 2024 and the final fight card of the year delivered incredible knockouts, dominant performances and a Fight of the Year contender. But as we close the door on 2023, the UFC 296 main event will remain a hot topic of discussion.
Leon Edwards easily handled Colby Covington to retain the welterweight title Saturday in Las Vegas. Edwards' speed and precision were too much for Covington, who was making his first Octagon appearance in nearly two years.
Prior to Edwards' victory, Alexandre Pantoja put on a clinic against Brandon Royval, knocking out the challenger again and again. He made his first successful title defense and is looking forward to 2024, where he could bring some stability to the top of the flyweight division.
Then there was Shavkat Rakhmonov, who once again needed no judges to secure another victory. Rakhmonov's win over Stephen Thompson was impressive, but is a title shot the right booking for the undefeated welterweight?
Who is next among the champions and greatest fighters of the evening? We'll take a look:
Leon Edwards, welterweight champion
Who should be next: Belal Muhammad
Nothing really to discuss here. Edwards talked about progress, and that is indeed justified. He only defended his title twice, but he won 12 in a row. He knocked out Kamaru Usman twice. Now, Colby Covington. It can't be said that this man doesn't deserve big opportunities, but at the end of the day, he has work to do as a champion. It's just reality.
Muhammad has won nine in a row and has been particularly impressive of late. He took a short notice fight against Gilbert Burns earlier this year and put his streak on the line. He did what the UFC asked of him. He won the fights. He is next.
Wild card: middleweight title chance
Like I said, you can make an argument for Edwards to do just about anything because he's been so impressive for so long. He deserves to make demands and make them heard. But again, there is work to be done in the division, and historically that always comes first before any weight increase.
Colby Covington, welterweight
Who should be next: Gilbert Burns
No other way to say it, but it was a strange night for Covington. Obviously, give Edwards a ton of credit for that.
Covington Didn't Look Comfortable at UFC 296, and You Can't Blame That all in dismissal. Edwards looked sharp and Covington had nothing going for him on Saturday. Covington made it clear he wanted to return soon and promised he would get better. He still has a number next to his name and should be ranked appropriately – and that means a fight with Burns.
Covington didn't look great in his last fight and neither did Burns, who fought Muhammad to a quick turnaround (and injured his arm early in that fight). This one doesn't have a lot of heat, certainly not as much as some of Covington's last matchups, but it's the easy decision to make.
Joker: Dustin Poirier
The UFC is all about selling pay-per-views, right? Usually these are title fights. But sometimes it comes down to BMF belts or grudge matches and there is an easy sell grudge match between Covington and Poirier.
The two are former American Top Team teammates. Covington started the beef with disparaging remarks from Poirier seemingly out of nowhere years ago, and Poirier's anger towards those remarks is clearly genuine. Poirier even said he would never fight Covington in the Octagon because he didn't want to play any role in him making money.
But money talks and as of right now, neither of these two are in contention for any sort of title fight – and they won't be any time soon. So if the UFC decides to float the idea for the sole purpose of selling certain points of view, anything is possible.
Alexandre Pantoja, flyweight champion
Who should be next: Winner of Brandon Moreno vs. Amir Albazi on February 24
The idea of a fourth(!) fight between Pantoja and Moreno doesn't do much for me (although it's still a fun match) and I doubt it would do much for the general fanbase, but that's how things work.
If Moreno beats Albazi, in a scheduled five-round fight, I'd be surprised if he's not next. Ditto for Albazi. Maybe if Moreno wins and something spectacular happens in the division we could see someone surpass Moreno, but for now the winner of this match is the favorite to fight for the belt next.
Wild card: winner of Matheus Nicolau against Manel Kape on January 13
Here's an interesting caveat. UFC President Dana White has previously talked about blowing up his UFC Noche Mexican celebration party in September. If Moreno wins, perhaps the UFC will hold out its title shot until September. And if that's the case, maybe it will go with Pantoja against the winner of this fight some time ago.
Shavkat Rakhmonov, welterweight
Who should be next: Kamaru Usman
It's kind of the only thing that makes sense, but it's unlikely to happen. Usman has previously stated that he has no plans to fight Rakhmonov unless it is for a title, as they have been training together in South Florida. Usman is also simply at the point in his career where even if that weren't the case, he probably wouldn't be interested in fighting.
Still, I have to list it as “should be next” because it's literally the only thing that makes sense. Belal Muhammad (rightly so) is only interested in fighting for a championship. Rakhmonov and Gilbert Burns, the only other welterweight ranked ahead of him, are also teammates at Kill Cliff FC. It's a pickle.
Joker: Belal Muhammad
If, for whatever reason, a welterweight title shot isn't available to Muhammad for an extended period of time, the UFC could ask him to fight again. We've seen stranger things. Beyond that, however, it's hard to find anything for Rakhmonov other than to wait and possibly weigh in as a backup in a future title fight.
Paddy Pimblett, lightweight
Who should be next: Benoit Saint Denis
So, here's the deal. At one point, the UFC's mindset towards Pimblett was always going to shift away from Which match builds it? has Okay, if he loses the next match, who would we agree he loses to?
In other words, Pimblett is now “built” in a sense. Now it's time for some tough fights, and if he loses, the UFC certainly wouldn't mind if that loss resulted in another name he'd like to build. This is where I receive Saint Denis.
Saint Denis showed a lot of potential. He is 27 years old and ranked 12th in an extremely deep division. Some will certainly say that this is like throwing Pimblett to the wolves, and… it is. But he's 5-0 and has been a betting favorite in each of his appearances. Give him a chance against a ranked opponent and make that ranked opponent someone who would benefit from beating someone of Pimblett's popularity.
Joker: Jim Miller
Miller will fight Gabriel Benitez next month, but he has repeatedly said he would like to fight at UFC 300 in April. He has already fought at UFC 100 and 200. He is the UFC Ironman. The fans know him and love him. Even with all the tread on his tires, he would be a very legitimate fight for Pimblett and he would bring some name recognition.
Josh Emmett, featherweight
Who should be next: Giga Chikadze
Amazing knockout, man. Just scary. Even if you've seen Emmett's power, it will still shock you like it did on Saturday.
I don't know what Emmett's title aspirations look like at age 38, after back-to-back losses earlier this year. With such knockout ability, you can't say it's impossible for him to reach the top. It would take some good wins and a few more dominoes to fall, but man, when you have lights out like that, anything can happen.
This fight was supposed to be against Chikadze, and I think the obvious thing is to go ahead and book it again.
Wild card: winner of Arnold Allen against Movsar Evloev on January 20
If Chikadze is unavailable, the winner of this fight could be on the same timeline as Emmett. Emmett was actually supposed to fight Arnold in 2020, but withdrew due to injury.
Personally, I expect it to be Chikadze, but depending on one's timing, that's another likely option.
Cody Garbrandt, bantamweight
Who should be next: Dominick Cruz
I liked Garbrandt's call to Deiveson Figueiredo, both were expected to fight for the flyweight championship in 2020, but if we're just being realistic, Figueiredo is going to want (and deserve) a higher-ranked opponent.
What's up with Cruz? He hasn't fought since August 2022, when he lost to Marlon Vera (who next fights for the belt). Cruz is still highly ranked, but he is the definition of someone who is ranked high. I'm sure Cruz is a little tired of hearing about Garbrandt's “perfect” fight against him in 2016, when he won the 135-pound championship. There is a lot of history with this match. It makes sense.
Wild card: Adrian Yanez
Garbrandt is on a two-fight winning streak, while Yanez is on a two-fight winning streak. This alone makes the fight unlikely. But tell me, who doesn't want to see it?
Yanez has lost some of his shine, but both of his losses have come against ranked opponents. He didn't completely fall. If Garbrandt beats him, that means something. If Yanez wins, that means something. And stylistically, it's a beautiful boxing match. This would be a great fight and would attract a lot of looks.
