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UFC 296: Edwards vs. Covington
Leon Edwards
Leon Edwards
21-3 · GBR
VS
Colby Covington
Colby Covington
17-3 · USA
December 16, 2023 · Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Welterweight · 5 rounds · Main event
170.0lb
Weigh-in
169.5lb
Leon Edwards def. Colby Covington by U-DEC, R5 5:00
Performance
Round by round
SSTDKDCtrl
R1
Edwards13/310/000:00
Covington10/280/100:00
R2
Edwards18/270/000:00
Covington13/360/000:00
R3
Edwards12/231/200:18
Covington7/321/300:34
R4
Edwards11/220/000:11
Covington13/260/501:27
R5
Edwards3/51/100:58
Covington1/41/103:03
Total
Edwards57/1082/301:27
Covington44/1262/1005:04

Scorecards

Edwards vs Covington

RdChris LeeDerek ClearySal D'AmatoCommunity
R110-910-910-99.9-9
R210-910-910-910-9
R310-910-910-99.9-9.1
R410-910-910-99.7-9.3
R59-109-109-109.1-9.9
Total49-4649-4649-4648.6-46.3

Media (23 cards) · avg 4946 · 23 Edwards · 0 Covington

Official cards + public consensus via MMA Decisions. Per round: Edwards-Covington.

Pre-fight

The model's read going in

The walk-forward model's call at the time of the bout — persisted out-of-sample, with no hindsight about the result.

Prediction
EdwardsWin probabilityCovington
72.0%28.0%
KO / TKO
28%
Submission
23%
Decision
49%
Expected fight time: 17.9 min
Retrospective pick: the walk-forward model's call at the time of the fight — persisted out-of-sample, with no hindsight about the result.
What drives the pick

Each bar is a feature's push on the model from the center axis. Red pushes toward Edwards, blue toward Covington. Tap a bar for why.

Predicted outcomes
Edwards72%
Wins by
Model
Equity
Mkt
KO / TKO21%29%
Submission15%21%
Decision36%50%
Predicted output
Sig. strikes64 (2787)act 57
Takedowns0.5 (0.02.1)act 2
Covington28%
Wins by
Model
Equity
Mkt
KO / TKO7%26%
Submission8%28%
Decision13%46%
Predicted output
Sig. strikes61 (2683)act 44
Takedowns1.5 (0.04.4)act 2
Combined totals~125 sig strikes~2.0 takedownsmkt —
How it ends
mkt —
R113%
R212%
R313%
R48%
R55%
Distance49%
Fighter props
Most sig. strikestie 0.8%
Edwards
50.7%-104
Covington
+10448.6%
Most takedownstie 28.0%
Edwards
16.5%+336
Covington
-33655.5%
Significant strikes — over/under
Edwards
Expected: 63.9
64
Over 64
39.3%
+153
Exactly 64
0.8%
push
Under 64
60.0%
-153
080160
Covington
Expected: 61.3
61.5
Over 61.5
39.6%
+152
Under 61.5
60.4%
-152
077154
Takedowns — over/under
Edwards
Expected: 0.5
0.5
Over 0.5
30.1%
+232
Under 0.5
69.9%
-232
035
Covington
Expected: 1.5
1.5
Over 1.5
46.0%
+117
Under 1.5
54.0%
-117
035

Odds are model-implied (no real prop market is priced for these). The “most” prices are draw-no-bet — a tie (for takedowns, usually 0–0) is a push, so each side is priced off its chance of winning given a result, while the % shown is the raw chance of landing strictly more. Drag a line in half-point steps: a half line (e.g. 2.5) is a clean over/under, while a whole number adds a third outcome — landing exactly on it, a push — so over, exact and under sum to 100%. On a whole number the over/under odds are draw-no-bet (priced off the decisive mass, since the push refunds), so the two sides stay mirror images rather than implying an arbitrage.

Expected fight time 17.9 min. Predicted-output ranges are percentiles of the model’s simulated fights: sig strikes the middle 50% (25th–75th); takedowns the wider 10th–90th, since they’re 0 in most fights so a narrow band would collapse to 0. Win-by-method = win probability × that fighter’s own method split: the model forecasts how the fight ends, and that forecast is divided between the corners by each fighter’s finishing record — UFC wins in full, earlier-career wins at half weight, as of fight night — reconciled so the fighters’ totals still equal their win probabilities and the methods still total the fight-level forecast above. “Equity” is each of those over that fighter’s win % — how they win given that they win — so a column adds to 100%, and it differs by corner. A fighter with no classifiable wins at any level leans on the fight-level split. “How it ends” is the model’s round-of-finish split. “Mkt” is the de-vigged market prop (consensus across books), shown for context, not as a betting signal; rounds & totals slots fill as that data lands. Percentages are apportioned by largest remainder, so each set adds to its total exactly and an individual figure can sit a point off its own rounding.

Model vs market
Final
ModelMarketGapLine
To win
Edwards72.0%59.1%+12.9-160
Covington28.0%40.9%−12.9+135

Market % is the de-vigged (no-vig) consensus across the books that price both fighters; the line is the average across books with the min–max range in parentheses. Gap is the model minus the market in points (+ = the model rates that outcome above the market). Thin or one-sided markets are flagged or left blank rather than shown as a fabricated %. Shown for context, not as a bet — the closing line is the sharpest public price and the model trails it on average. For 5-round bouts the model splits its round-3+ finish mass into rounds 3–5 by the historical within-bucket rate, so the over-3.5 / 4.5 lines carry a model estimate.

Trait web
68.7Striking65.7
Edwards +3.0
44.9Grappling63.4
Covington +18.4
Str/minStr accStr defAbsorbedTD/15TD accTD defSubs
Hover a point to see the values
EdwardsCovington
Tale of the tape
Ratings (Elo)
1702
Pound-for-pound
1665
1690
Divisional
1657
1500
Striking offense
1536
1540
Striking defense
1500
1505
Grappling offense
1538
1523
Grappling defense
1547
Physical
32 yrs
Age
35 yrs
6'2"
Height
5'11"
74"
Reach
72"
Southpaw
Stance
Orthodox
Striking (UFC career)
2.80
Strikes landed / min
4.10
53%
Strike accuracy
39%
2.40
Strikes absorbed / min
3.05
54%
Strike defense
56%
Grappling (UFC career)
1.26
Takedowns / 15 min
4.05
33%
Takedown accuracy
46%
69%
Takedown defense
72%
0.3
Sub attempts / 15 min
0.2
Form & résumé
81%
UFC win rate
80%
+3
Win/loss streak
+1
80%
Last-5 win rate
60%
31%
Finish rate
42%
Recent opp. quality
273
Days since last fight
651
Recent form (last 5 UFC)
Leon Edwards
  • WKamaru UsmanM-DEC R5
    Close +2139mo before
  • WKamaru UsmanKO/TKO R5
    Close +2771y 4mo before
  • WNate DiazU-DEC R5
    Close -4972y 6mo before
  • WRafael Dos AnjosU-DEC R5
    Close -1104y 5mo before
  • WGunnar NelsonS-DEC R3
    Close -1404y 9mo before
Colby Covington
  • WJorge MasvidalU-DEC R5
    Close -3231y 9mo before
  • LKamaru UsmanU-DEC R5
    Close +2392y 1mo before
  • WTyron WoodleyKO/TKO R5
    Close -3353y 3mo before
  • LKamaru UsmanKO/TKO R5
    Close +1654y before
  • WRobbie LawlerU-DEC R5
    Close -3004y 4mo before
Edwards — win / loss by method
Record: 21-3-0, 1 NC

Bar length is fight count (largest bar = full width); shading splits finishes by round and decisions by unanimous vs split — tap a bar for the round-by-round count.

KO/TKO
7 wins, 0 losses
W
33% of wins
L
0% of losses
Submission
3 wins, 0 losses
W
14% of wins
L
0% of losses
Decision
11 wins, 2 losses
W
52% of wins
L
67% of losses
DQ / other
0 wins, 1 loss
W
0% of wins
L
33% of losses
UFC
13win2loss0draw1NC
WinsLosses
3 (23%)KO/TKO(0%) 0
1 (8%)Submission(0%) 0
9 (69%)Decision(100%) 2
Non-UFC
8win1loss0draw0NC
WinsLosses
4 (50%)KO/TKO(0%) 0
2 (25%)Submission(0%) 0
2 (25%)Decision(0%) 0
0 (0%)DQ / other(100%) 1
Covington — win / loss by method
Record: 17-3-0

Bar length is fight count (largest bar = full width); shading splits finishes by round and decisions by unanimous vs split — tap a bar for the round-by-round count.

KO/TKO
4 wins, 1 loss
W
24% of wins
L
33% of losses
Submission
4 wins, 1 loss
W
24% of wins
L
33% of losses
Decision
9 wins, 1 loss
W
53% of wins
L
33% of losses
UFC
12win3loss0draw0NC
WinsLosses
3 (25%)KO/TKO(33%) 1
2 (17%)Submission(33%) 1
7 (58%)Decision(33%) 1
Non-UFC
5win0loss0draw0NC
WinsLosses
1 (20%)KO/TKO() 0
2 (40%)Submission() 0
2 (40%)Decision() 0

Profiles

Experience
Edwards
Covington
16
UFC fights
15
262.5 min · 16.4 avg
Octagon time
248.4 min · 16.6 avg
15y 2m
Career length
14y 6m
UFC schedule strength

Opponents' records on fight night — toggle their full cross-promotional record vs UFC bouts only.

Edwards
Covington
250W–74L · 77.2%
Overall
262W–71L · 78.7%
234W–72L · 76.5%
Wins
219W–69L · 76.0%
16W–2L · 88.9%
Losses
43W–2L · 95.6%
Non-UFC schedule strength
Edwards
Covington
45W–12L · 78.9%
Overall
24W–78L · 23.5%
43W–12L · 78.2%
Wins
24W–78L · 23.5%
2W–0L · 100.0%
Losses
0W–0L
Distance striking
Edwards
Covington
4.33
Landed / min
6.76
48.1%
Accuracy
34.9%
59.6%
Defense
60.0%
0.29
Knockdowns / 15 min
0.06
48.3%
Time at distance
47.6%
Grappling & control
Edwards
Covington
1.26
Takedowns / 15 min
4.05
33.3%
Takedown accuracy
45.9%
69.1%
Takedown defense
72.0%
0.34
Sub attempts / 15 min
0.18
49.0%
Control share
94.9%
Strike target map
Edwards
  • Head58%(423)div 63%
  • Body23%(169)div 21%
  • Legs19%(142)div 16%
Covington
  • Head70%(717)div 63%
  • Body16%(159)div 21%
  • Legs14%(142)div 16%

Where each fighter lands significant strikes (career). “div” = the weight-class average.

Leon Edwards
CloseSSTDKDCtrl

Per-fight: SS & TD shown landed/attempted; Close = consensus closing line.

Colby Covington
CloseSSTDKDCtrl

Per-fight: SS & TD shown landed/attempted; Close = consensus closing line.