UFC 296: ‘He’s a dirty human being’ – Leon Edwards on controlling anger in ’emotional’ win over Colby Covington

Leon Edwards said he had to bottle up his rage in a “very emotional” fight with “dirty human being” Colby Covington after beating the American at UFC 296 to defend his welterweight title.

Edwards controlled the fight for the first four rounds and the result was in no doubt by the time the decision was announced, despite a strong finish from Covington.

“This fight was very emotional for me,” Edwards said in the octagon.

“This guy used my dad’s death as entertainment, used my dad’s murder as entertainment.

“It took a lot for me to calm down, stay focused and come into this fight. I spoke to my coaches, spoke to my mum and shut it all down.”

Asked if the fight was more difficult because of his anger, Edwards said: “100%. After the press conference when I went backstage, I was crying, just from the rage.

“You can’t use my dad’s death as entertainment and that’s what he did.

“Since that age it still breaks my heart he got murdered and he said my dad should burn in hell.”

Edwards admitted he was disappointed that the result went to the judges’ scorecards and that he was unable to finish Covington.

“I feel I was a much better athlete and technician,” he said. “There were a few scenarios where I could’ve gone for the choke to finish it.

“He competed hard against Kamaru Usman twice. He’s a great competitor, just a dirty human being.”

Edwards extended his UFC record to 22-3-0 and is on a 13-fight unbeaten run stretching back to December 2015.

He was happy with his performance overall against Covington, who failed for the third time at a chance to take the welterweight belt following two defeats to Usman.

“I knew I was the better athlete. All the training camp, everything we kept going on about was cardio, cardio, cardio,” Edwards said.

“I knew to control the distance I could match him for cardio, I could match him for technique and range and shut him down.

“I wanted to grapple with him, to shut down his strike. I’m a mixed martial artist I wanted to come out here, prove my case, out grapple the grappler, out struck him.

“This is my second title defence, [I’m] tied in the UFC for most wins in a row. I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing.”

Covington faced boos from the Las Vegas crowd after the fight.

The American refused to accept the decision and described it as an “easy fight” despite the result in his first fight since March 2022.

“I’ve had a long lay-off so I think ring rust had a lot to do with it,” he said.

“I feel great. I didn’t feel like I got touched. It was an easy fight, I don’t have a scratch on me. I’d like to get back to work early next year.”

Covington admitted he got off to a bad start, but insisted that he should have been awarded the belt at the end.

“I made a mistake. That was my gameplan, I made a bad adjustment early on. I’m only going to learn from this. I’m going to go back to the drawing board,” he said.

“I’ve been out of the octagon for two years, people have been ducking me, fights have fallen through, Leon didn’t want to fight in his home country, so I’ve been ready to fight anytime, anywhere, anyone.

“I love being a UFC fighter. I’m 35 years young, I didn’t take any damage this fight, it was the easiest fight of my life.

“I thought I won the fight, so it’s all perspective, but I will come back stronger. Mark my words.”