UFC 296: Date, time, fight card & how to watch Leon Edwards vs Colby Covington

The final UFC event of 2023 is almost upon us and it could well be a real highlight of the year as Leon Edwards and Colby Covington go head-to-head for the welterweight championship belt.

UFC 296 on ESPN+

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UFC 296 on TNT Sports

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It’s a jam-packed schedule for UFC 296 on December 16, with two championship bouts and some excellent fights that’ll close the year with a real bang.

For MMA fans, it’s almost like Christmas has come early, and millions worldwide will be tuning in. So, if that sounds like a good plan to you, here’s all you need to know about watching and live streaming UFC 296.

When is UFC 296? Date and start time

Taking place on December 16, UFC 296 will return to Las Vegas and the T-Mobile Arena, a venue that’s no stranger to world-class fighting.

The Preliminary Card gets underway from 5pm Las Vegas time, while the early preliminary starts two hours prior to that.

The Main Card kicks off from 7pm, meaning UK fans can expect everything to get underway from 11pm, with the Main Card then starting at 3am.

How to watch UFC 296 - live stream & tv channel

UFC 296 is available to stream in several ways, with different subscriptions being required to watch them.

In the USA the Main Card is a PPV event available via ESPN+. You need an ESPN+ subscription to watch it, priced at $10.99 per month, which will allow you to watch the Early Preliminary Card and Preliminary Card.

To watch the Main Card it costs $79.99 through the streaming platform.

UFC 296 on ESPN+

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For UK fans, the Early Preliminary Card and Preliminary Card can be watched on UFC Fight Pass, which is priced at £6.99 per month or £71.99 for the year.

However, the Main Card for UFC 296 is only available on TNT Sports Box Office, setting fans back £19.99. It can be purchased on Sky, Virgin Media, through the TNT Sports/discovery+ app or online as well as on EE TV.

UFC 296 on TNT Sports

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UFC 296 Fight Card

The Fight Card is shaping up to be an exciting one with Leon Edwards’ defence of his welterweight title against Colby Covington the main event of the night.

Alexandre Pantoja will also defend his flyweight title against Brandon Royval, while Vicente Luque against Ian Machado Garry open up the Main Card show.

Main Card:

• MAIN EVENT: Leon Edwards v Colby Covington
• Alexandre Pantoja v Brandon Royval
• Shavkat Rakhmonov v Stephen Thompson
• Tony Ferguson v Paddy Pimblett
• Vicente Luque v Ian Machado Garry

Preliminary Card:

• Josh Emmett v Bryce Mitchell
• Irene Aldana v Karol Rosa
• Cody Garbrandt v Brian Kelleher
• Casey O’Neill v Ariane Lipski

Early Preliminary Card:

• Alonzo Menifield v Dustin Jacoby
• Tagir Ulanbekov v Cody Durden
• Andre Fili v Lucas Almeida
• Martin Buday v Shamil Gaziev
• Randy Brown v Muslim Salikhov

Main event tale of the tape: Edwards v Covington

Colby Covington lost his welterweight title against Kamaru Usman back in November 2021 and now takes on the man who has enjoyed back-to-back wins against the Nigerian-American, winning in August 2022 and then again in March this year at UFC 286.

Edwards is the favourite for the fight, with most bookies pricing him at 4/6, with Covington around 6/5.

Covington hasn’t fought since March 2022, but has been very vocal in the build-up of late and less than complimentary about his opponent.

Both fighters have three defeats to their name, two of which for Covington came against Usman.

Edwards hasn’t lost since 2015 though, again to Usman, and has enjoyed some big scalps in recent years, including Nate Diaz at UFC 263 in 2019.

News about UFC 296

Josh Emmett was initially meant to fight Giga Chikadze at UFC 296. However, Chikadze had to withdraw due to a torn groin, with Bryce Mitchell taking his place for the fight, heading up the Preliminary Card.

Should either Leon Edwards or Colby Covington pull out of the Main Event, Belal Muhammad is set to serve as the official backup fighter.