UFC 296 goes down on Saturday, Dec. 16, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, headlined by Leon Edwards vs. Colby Covington in a fight for the UFC welterweight championship. The defending champion Edwards is the favorite at odds of . The challenger Covington comes in as the slight underdog at .
The co-main event for UFC 296 features a men’s flyweight fight between 125-pound champion Alexandre Pantoja at and challenger Brandon Royval at .
The card also includes a late change, as Bryce Mitchell has stepped in to take on Josh Emmett after an injury withdrawal by Giga Chikadze.
Full UFC 296 betting odds and analysis of the pay-per-view title fights are below.
| Leon Edwards | Colby Covington |
| Alexandre Pantoja | Brandon Royval |
| Shavkat Rakhmonov | Stephen Thompson |
| Tony Ferguson | Paddy Pimblett |
| Josh Emmett | Bryce Mitchell |
| Irene Aldana | Karol Rosa |
| Cody Garbrandt | Brian Kelleher |
| Casey O’Neill | Ariane Lipski |
| Alonzo Menifield | Dustin Jacoby |
| Tagir Ulanbekov | Cody Durden |
| Andre Fili | Lucas Almeida |
| Martin Buday | Shamil Gaziev |
| Randy Brown | Muslim Salikhov |
UFC 296 odds for every fight
UFC 296 main event odds and analysis
Leon Edwards vs. Colby Covington
Edwards (21-3) proved with his second straight win over former champ Kamaru Usman that his overall game has come a long way. He has power in his punches and his kicks, but he has also closed the gaps in his wrestling game. Edwards hasn’t lost a fight since his 2015 decision defeat to Usman, and he’s proven that he can go five rounds without slowing, having posted wins in all five of his fights that have reached the fifth round.
Covington (17-3) has built his career on being a wrestler first and everything else second. His bottomless cardio allows him to fight at an incredibly high pace, to the point where offensive output alone is one of his best weapons. The problem is that on those rare occasions when his wrestling gets shut down, he doesn’t have a lot else with which to threaten opponents. He hasn’t had a true finish in a fight since 2016, and he’s got more wins by decision than knockouts and submissions combined.
UFC 296 main event prop bet odds
Edwards has won 11 fights via decision, including five of his last six victories. His next most common method of victory is knockout, though he’s logged only three career submission wins. Aside from a victory via injury TKO, Covington has not won inside the distance since 2016. Nine of his 17 wins have come via decision, including six of the last seven.
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UFC 296 co-main event odds and analysis
Alexandre Pantoja vs. Brandon Royval
Pantoja (26-5) pulled off an upset with the split-decision victory over Brandon Moreno to claim the 125-pound title in July. Now he faces the difficult task of defending it, and in a division overflowing with talent.
Royval (15-6) hasn’t lost since his submission to Pantoja in 2021. But the three straight wins he’s reeled off since have mostly come against lesser competition, with Royval losing inside the distance to the only two UFC champions he’s faced. Royval is a big fighter for the weight class, and he’ll have a significant height and reach advantage here. But he’ll need to have found a way to close the holes in his game that Pantoja exploited in their last fight, and he hasn’t had much time to do it.
UFC 296 co-main event prop bet odds
Pantoja has largely relied on his grappling expertise in recent bouts, winning two of his last four via submission. His victory over Royval in 2021 came via rear-naked choke, as Pantoja has proven especially adept at taking the back and sinking the choke. Royval has won two straight fights with finishes (one submission and one TKO). He only counts two decision wins among his 15 victories as a pro.
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How to watch UFC 296
- Early prelims — 6 p.m. ET, ESPN+
- Prelims — 8 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN+
- Main card — 10 p.m. ET, ESPN+ pay-per-view
