Leon Edwards, Colby Covington's Next Best Fights After UFC 296 Results

Leon Edwards remained the UFC's welterweight championship and denied Colby Covington the belt with a unanimous decision win over Chaos to close out UFC 296 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Edwards continued to prove that he's the man to beat in the 170-pound division. He hasn't always been given the credit he is due, but with the belt and a 12-fight win streak to his name, it's getting hard to deny his place.

Of course, the pressure never relents in a division as stacked as welterweight. Edwards may be the champion, but there are multiple contenders with a case to fight Rocky.

Covington's next steps are going to be interesting to track as well. After coming up short in the welterweight division three times it might be time for him to explore life as a middleweight.

Given the results tonight, here's a look at the best fights to make next for each of the main event combatants.

Edwards: Belal Muhammad

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Belal Muhammad gets his hand raised against Gilbert Burns

Leon Edwards has only made the walk to the cage without getting his hand raised once since 2015. Rocky is unbeaten, but he did get a No Contest on his record when his fight with Belal Muhammad was called due to an accidental eye poke that left Muhammad unable to continue.

Much like Edwards, it has taken Muhammad a while to earn the respect he probably deserves. He is on a nine-fight win streak that includes a unanimous decision victory over Gilbert Burns in his last appearance.

Truth be told, he has done more recently to earn the title shot than Colby Covington did. But Muhammad is not much a self-marketer and seven of his nine wins have come by unanimous decision so he's not a finisher.

Even with Covington out of the way, it's no guarantee that Muhammad will be up next. Shavkat Rahkmonov made his case on the UFC 296 main card with a second-round submission win over Stephen Thompson. He appears destined to fight for the title sooner than later.

But the UFC has made Muhammad wait long enough and Rakhmonov could use another fight to build up the hype.

Covington: Paulo Costa

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SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH - AUGUST 20: Paulo Costa of Brazil looks on in a middleweight bout against Luke Rockhold of the United States during UFC 278 at Vivint Arena on August 20, 2022 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)

It's not easy to come up with a fight for Colby Covington after this one. At 35 years old, retirement might be a real consideration.

The problem for him is that he hasn't been very active and he's now been denied three times for the welterweight crown. That could mean a move up to middleweight is in order, but he would have a lot to prove there, especially after a poor performance in this fight.

So much of his game is predicated on being able to wear down opponents and beat them with his pressure. It's hard to know if that will work out the same way in the 185-pound landscape.

At the same time, Covington has only come on to fight the biggest names possible. It would be a tough sell for him to take on some of the up-and-comers at middleweight. Paulo Costa is trying to re-kindle his brand as a factor in the middleweight division. He had a fight against Khamzat Chimaev lined up but was forced to pull out with injury.

A bout against Covington would give two big personalities the chance to sell a fight at middleweight that would launch the winner back into the conversation.