UFC 296 LIVE – Leon Edwards v Colby Covington headlines stacked card in Las Vegas, Paddy Pimblett wins

UFC 296: Edwards vs. Covington costs £19.99 in the UK and can be watched through EE TV, Virgin Media TV and Sky, online via the web or the TNT Sports Box Office App. You do not need to be a TNT Sports subscriber to buy this event.

A better round for Royval, winning a number of exchanges when the pair were standing up, landing slick southpaw jabs and as the champion looked fatigued. ‘The Cannibal’ still secured control on the floor at the end of the round.

Pantoja again had control on the ground for over half the round, then as Royval got up he was caught with a quick one-two which had the challenger’s legs doing a chicken dance.

Pantoja attacks from the first second, but Royval avoids the takedown. Pantoja lands two kicks to the body and gets a takedown two minutes into the round. Royval showed great defence with chopping kicks on his back to stop Pantoja locking in a finishing hold. Royval got up with thirty seconds remaining.

He produced the knockout of the night with his first round stoppage of Bryce Mitchell and Josh Emmett spoke to our own Caroline Pearce about it.

A rematch between Brandon Royval and flyweight champion ‘The Cannibal’ Alexandre Pantoja of Brazil, who made the American tap two years ago in the second round.

Rakhmonov lands a knee to the body and forces the veteran against the Octagon, eventually bringing him to the ground and putting on a choke hold which threatens to end the fight. Just as it looked like ‘Wonder Boy’ would see out to the third round, the Kazakh fighter takes the back and makes him tap with a rear-naked choke with just a few seconds remaining. Rakhmonov’s record improves to 18-0.

Rakhmonov tied Thompson against the cage for much of the round, but ‘Wonder Boy’ landed some good kicks to the body and right southpaw jabs in the closing stages.

Kazakhstan’s Shavkat Rakhmanov (#5) takes on Stephen Thompson (#6). Unbeaten Rakhmanov, a big betting favourite, comes into the ring in traditional headwear, but Thompson still looks in peak fighting shape at 40 years of age.

The UK fighter wins 30-27 on all three rounds.

Pimblett looked fatigued and Ferguson had the better of the early stages but ‘The Baddy’ managed to get Ferguson on the floor and the veteran could not get the Englishman off him.

The second round was mainly fought on the ground after Pimblett brought him to the ground. Then Pimblett land right hands and had control but Ferguson showed good defence and landed big elbows to the head of Pimblett leading to blood raining down.

Ferguson puts Pimblett down with a flash knockdown with a calf kick, but Pimblett wobbled the veteran with right hands and then with a minute remaining after a vicious combination finished with a high knee it seemed the end was nigh. With Ferguson on the floor, Pimblett kept pummeling the former interim champion but somehow the American made it to the end of the round.

Liverpool’s Paddy ‘The Baddy’ Pimblett takes on American veteran Tony Ferguson.

After a couple of minutes of feeling each other out, Mitchell was hit with a massive right hand which ended the fight immediately. Mitchell had convulsions on the floor after being hit but is conscious now, if on unsteady legs.

I think it’s fair to say all the UK are behind the welterweight champion.

#6 Josh Emmett takes on #10 Bryce Mitchell.

Irene Aldana beat Karol Rosa in a fight of the year contender.

‘No Love’ Cody Garbrandt ended his bout with Brian Kelleher in stunning style.

‘The Queen of Violence’ Ariane Lipski made Casey O’Neill tap with an arm bar.

All three judges scored the fight 29-28 in favour of the #14-ranked light heavyweight, ‘Atomic’ Alonzo Menifield.

Jacoby looked a little fresher and landed multiple jabs closing Menifield’s eye, but also ate a couple of left hooks from Menifield though they didn’t have the effect they did in the previous round. But then from nowhere Menifield landed a huge left hand worthy of ‘Smokin’ Joe Frazier and took down Jacoby. One punch can change a fight and that one maybe did that. From being Jacoby’s round, that big moment is likely to tilt it to Menifield.

Much better round for Menifield. He lands a big left hand which rocks Jacoby and puts his opponent down for a flash knockdown with a leg kick. Jacoby then hurt Menifield with a right hand, but Menifield landed a counter left hook which had Jacoby hurt. Jacoby got back some control with his jab in the last minute but Menifield’s round.

Jacoby wins the round, easily the least eventful of this fantastic preliminary card. His feints are bamboozling Menifield who can’t get into range. The round ended with Jacoby landing body shots and knees against the cage. Menifield still looks dangerous if he can land combinations.

Alonzo Menifield (14-3-1), ranked 14 in the light-heavyweights, meets #15 Dustin Jacoby (19-7-1) in an all-American match-up. There have been 22 first-round stoppage wins between these two fighters so we expect fireworks.

All three judges had the fight 29-28 in favour of the Mexican.

Aldana comes out and lands a huge right hand which spins Rosa around, but the Brazilian recovers and goes back to her leg kicks and combined them with left hooks to make them even more effective. Rosa complained about a body shot inbetween rounds and another left hook downstairs hurt Rosa and turned the bout in her favour. Rosa kept firing back with leg kicks and left hands but Aldana’s shots were more effective. Both end the fight with crimson masks and roars from the crowd. If there’s a better fight than this tonight, we’ll be very surprised. A deserved standing ovation for both these warriors.

Aldana battled through to likely take the second round. Despite Rosa still landing with leg kicks and also some counter shots, Aldana walked through to land right hands, uppercuts as well as her signature left hook. Anyone’s fight going into the third round.

Rosa getting the better of Aldana with leg kicks against the front leg of the Mexican vulnerable due to her boxing stance. An inside kick buckled Aldana twice in the fourth minute. Aladana continued to land strikes and bloodied Rosa’s nose, though she also had hers seeping claret after a head kick on the buzzer.

#5 Irene Aldana of Mexico (14-7) takes on #9 Brazilian Karol Rosa (17-5).

Garbrandt lands good punches early but Kelleher’s effective leg kicks kept him in the contest early on. Right hands from the former champion had Kelleher unsteady and then when his opponent attempted a kick, another right hand down the pipe from ‘No Love’ saw Kelleher fall face first to the mat and the fight was called off.

Both these bantamweights specialise in early nights. Former champion Cody Garbrandt has 10 knockout wins in his 13-3 record and Brian Kelleher 10 wins in the first round. Don’t blink in this one.

A nasty right hand cross rocked O’Neill badly and Casey did well to avoid a stoppage after some prolonged ground and pound, before an arm bar made the Australian tap.

A clear round for the underdog Lipski. Landing more frequent and harder strikes and reversing an attempt for a takedown landing blows with O’Neill on the floor then leg and head kicks as her opponent got up.

Ariane Lipski of Brazil (16-8) comes up against 12th-ranked fighter flyweight fighter ‘King’ Casey O’Neill (9-1) of Australia.

Thanks for joining our coverage of UFC 296. The preliminary contests are 15 minutes away, with the main card, headlined by Britain’s own Leon Edwards defending his welterweight title against Colby Covington, beginning at around 3am.

Main event: Welterweight championship bout: Leon Edwards (c) v Colby Covington

Co-main event: Flyweight championship bout: Alexandre Pantoja (c) v Brandon Royval

Welterweight bout: Shavkat Rakhmonov v Stephen Thompson

Lightweight bout: Tony Ferguson v Paddy Pimblett

Featherweight bout: Josh Emmett v Bryce Mitchell

UFC 296: Edwards vs. Covington costs £19.99 in the UK and can be watched through EE TV, Virgin Media TV and Sky, online via the web or the TNT Sports Box Office App. You do not need to be a TNT Sports subscriber to buy this event.

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