Leon Edwards’ manager is confident that the Colby Covington fight happens in 2023.
After defeating Kamaru Usman a second time, welterweight champion Edwards (21-3 MMA, 13-2 UFC) is slated to defend his title against Covington (17-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) next, but a date and venue are yet to be announced. Covington weighed in as a backup for Edwards vs. Usman 3, but his services weren’t needed.
With two pay-per-views left in the year to be filled out, Edwards’ manager Tim Simpson says expect the fight to either land on UFC 295 on Nov. 11 at Madison Square Garden in New York, or UFC 296 on Dec. 16 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
“It’ll be before the end of the year,” Simpson told Submission Radio. “I guess the two cards left are November and December, and they’re still finalizing those. Leon is good. He is ready to go, waiting for the call. From my understanding, Colby is ready to go, as well. So it’ll be one of those two.”
There’s yet to be any title fights added to UFC 296, whereas UFC 295 is headlined by a heavyweight title bout between champion Jon Jones and former champ Stipe Miocic.
Covington said that Jones refuses to compete on the same card as him at UFC 295. When asked about it in a recent news conference, UFC CEO Dana White appeared unaware, and took the claim with a grain of salt when he found out it was Covington who said it.
