Trump's favorite is the UFC's most hated star. And Chaos is fighting for the belt again

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On Sunday night the final numbered tournament of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will take place in Las Vegas. this year. The card came together amazing! This weekend, fans will see two title fights and many hot fights involving promotion stars. Sports tells everything you need to know about one of the best events of 2023.

UFC 296

• When: December 16 (17th Moscow time);
• Where:T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas (USA);< /li>
• What time: the tournament starts at 02:00 Moscow time, the main card — at six in the morning Moscow time;
• Where to watch:Online broadcast will be carried out by the official UFC Fight Pass service. On public television the broadcast will begin at 06:00 Moscow time.

Edwards — Covington
Welterweight belt fight

Two defeats in the last four fights, the absence of battles with hungry welterweights and two failed opportunities to win the belt in fights with Kamaru Usman (losses by technical knockout and unanimous decision) — you must admit, given such factors, it is difficult to call a fighter worthy of the status of “#1 contender”.

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But the promotion believes in the former interim champion. And this weekend it will be a little easier to take the gold: Colby's wrestling background and amazing endurance may create problems for striker Leon Edwards. However, the champion also has something to answer. After all, the Briton has two victories over Usman, who is also an elite fighter, behind him, and one of them was by far the best knockout of 2022.

The poster is promising and long-awaited. This is both a clash of styles and an almost Hollywood plot: “Rocky” from Birmingham goes to defend the title on the territory of an opponent who sincerely hates the champion and, like “the Americans took freedom from the British,” he wants to take everything away from Leon and send him home.

More facts about the main event:

• Edwards hasn't lost since late 2015. During this time, he won 11 victories;
• Trump plans to attend UFC 296 and cheer for Covington;
• Russian Islam Makhachev will also be present in the stands. The best fighter of the promotion, regardless of weight categories (P4P), is eager for the second belt and wants to fight the winner of the main event of the evening;
• The fight will be insured by an American of Palestinian origin, Belal Muhammad, who, frankly speaking, should be in Colby’s place that evening. He has nine victories, marred only by a declared no contest against Edwards due to an eye poke.

Odds: 1.7 on the champion and 2.2 on scandalous contender.

Pantoja — Royval
Flyweight title fight

In the co-main event of the evening, flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja will defend his belt for the first time. In July, he dethroned Brandon Moreno (in a close fight, the Mexican lost by split decision) and has now accepted a fight against number four in the rating, Brandon Royval. The American is on a three-fight winning streak, he is 10 cm taller and younger than Pantoji. Don’t miss the fight of the “mukhachi”, because the probability of changing the champion in this weight division is always high.

Note that the fighters already fought in 2021, and then the victory went to the Brazilian (submission in the second round).

Odds: 1.5 versus 2.4 in favor of the owner belts.

Rakhmonov — Thompson
Shavkat Rakhmonov is getting closer to a title chance. The undefeated Kazakh is already in the top 5 welterweight division, all 17 victories were achieved ahead of schedule — such a track record is hard to ignore. So the “dark horse” of the division was given a star, but aged opponent, who would become a springboard for Shavkat to the “title”. We're talking about ex-belt contender 40-year-old Stephen Thompson, who has five losses in his last nine bouts and a strained relationship with the league after not wanting to take a fight with Michel Pereira, who failed the weigh-in.

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It is not surprising that fans consider the meeting with Rakhmonov to be a punishment for the good-natured man for the scandalous disruption of the meeting with the Brazilian. The American has practically no chance: Shavkat fights well and, if he cannot break the will of his opponent, he will definitely overwhelm Thompson. All that remains is to keep the young opponent at a distance and earn points with powerful kicks and hope for lucky punch/victory by decision.

Odds: 1.2 and 4.9 — Nomad (nickname of Rakhmonov — editor's note) opened as a clear favorite.

Ferguson — Pimblett
A similar situation will be in the fight earlier, because another veteran will be thrown under the prospect who is picking up speed. True, after Paddy Pimblett’s last fight, the gas pedal is not working so well: the fight against Jared Gordon turned into a scandal. Most fans and experts were sure that the guy from Liverpool had lost. But the judges chose Paddy's side, which means that the British star has 4-0 in the main MMA promotion in the world and a step up to the top 15 lightweight division.

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Tony Ferguson is doing worse than ever… Problems with the law, six defeats in a row (four early) and not a hint of the former “threat to Khabib Nurmagomedov.” But the ex-temporary champion is not discouraged and believes that he will take the youngster to school and finally put an end to the black streak in his dying career.

Odds: 3.5 on El Cucuy and 1.2 on the British Bad Boy.

Luke — Garry
Undefeated Ian Machado Garry goes to Las Vegas in a difficult emotional state. Not only did fans criticize the Irishman after trash talk about the respected Neil Magny, whom the Dublin native defeated in his last fight, but UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland, to the delight of the MMA audience, ridiculed the provocateur’s wife. He called Ian's middle-aged lover a «succubus» and urged Harry to take a sober look at his marital status.

A psychological attack on an opponent, of course, will benefit the experienced Brazilian Vincente Luque (No. 9), who does not want to let Conor McGregor's successor (No. 10) pass ahead in the welterweight ranking.

UPD. The fight was canceled
On Thursday it became known that Garry dropped out due to the flu, which later developed into pneumonia.

Russians, flat-earther and ex -champion
Two domestic athletes will perform in the preliminary card:

• Tagir Ulanbekov, who will be seconded by Makhachev, will try to win his fourth victory in the promotion. The opponent is the American Cody Darden, who is on a four-match winstrike;
• UFC 296 will be opened byMuslim Salikhov. In June, he lost by decision to the Dane Nicholas Dalby — now he will have to rehabilitate himself in a fight with the larger Jamaican Randy Brown.

UPD. Salikhov's fight is canceled
Brown withdrew from the tournament due to a cold.

Some more cool fights in the prelims:

• Disassembly of featherweight tops. Initially, American Josh Emmett was supposed to meet with Giga Chikadze, but the Georgian was injured and he was replaced by the strangest UFC fighter, a flat-earther and a lover of conspiracy theories, Bryce Mitchell;
• Former league champion Cody Garbrandt is gradually climbing out of the deep hole he fell into after five losses in six fights. In March, the popular American defeated Trevin Jones, and now he will try to get compatriot Brian Kelleher out of the way;
• The undefeated Shamil Gaziev will make his UFC debut in Vegas. A heavyweight from Dagestan will enter the cage under the flag of Bahrain.

Full list of UFC 296 fights
Main card :

• Leon Edwards — Colby Covington;
• Alexandre Pantoja — Brandon Royval;
• Shavkat Rakhmonov — Steven Thompson;
• Tony Ferguson — Paddy Pimblett.

Prelims*:< /strong>