Will Colby Covington’s Pace and Cardio Be Too Much for Leon Edwards at UFC 296? Welterweight Champ Explains Why That’s Just Not Possible

Dec 7, 2023 | 12:46 AM EST

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Colby Covington has defeated several brilliant fighters before. But will his moves grant him the same upper hand against reigning champion Leon Edwards? Perhaps he’s going to need to step up his game and find new ways to fight if he wants the title. But why is it so?

Leon Edwards is a rather cerebral warrior who studies the depth of his opponents’ preparations before jumping into the Octagon. Very recently he was showing Jiu-Jitsu moves and sparring along as he gave an intriguing interview. Here’s what he said about Covington.

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Leon Edwards knows how to defeat ‘Chaos’

Edwards has held the welterweight title for a while now after he ripped it away from Kamaru Usman. Usman himself defeated Covington two times as he defended the title. His style of fighting is all about pressure but for ‘Rocky’ that pressure isn’t going to work.

“Everyone is saying is cardio,” said Edwards. “Everyone’s saying that he can put a pace and keep the pace for the full fight. But I believe that, judging it off fights where he’s fighting over-the-hill guys you know, like Robbie Lawler, Masvidal, Tyron Woodley, these guys are like, in sport 38 (years old) in sports it’s old . . .

“Yeah man, I’m excited to go out there shut him up. He’s a big talker, so go out there and shut him up and just continue my reign.” Said the champ as he prepared for the fight against Covington. The champion is not always responding to the verbal assaults by Covington.

It looks like he’s preparing to respond to everything inside the cage instead. The fighter comes from a rather striking intensive background. In fact, it was his striking that took down Kamaru Usman to hand him the title. Now, will Covington prepare in a certain way for him too?

Other fighters back Edwards

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Many calculate that if Usman beat Covington and Edwards beat Usman, perhaps he has a greater chance against ‘Chaos’. While this UFC math isn’t exactly spot on, Edwards’s style may give him an advantage if he can truly stay on top of Covington’s pacing. Here’s what Gilbert Burns had to say.

Also Read: What Happened With Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal as They Went From Being Friends to Foes?

“I think he’s going to be able to defend the takedowns and kind of out strike (Covington) because of his precision and he’s got a power, a lot of pop on the kicks and a lot of pops on the hands too so I do think Leon is going to win. I don’t think it’s going to be easy but, I think he’s gonna get it done.” He said in a conversation about the fight.

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Do you agree with Burns? He certainly makes some good points. Perhaps it’ll all come out in the open at UFC 296.

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