UFC 296: Gilbert Burns Predicts Another Successful Title Defense For Leon Edwards

Gilbert Burns recently weighed in on the highly anticipated Leon Edwards vs. Colby Covington welterweight title fight at UFC 296. The Brazilian opined that ‘Rocky’ would prove too good for ‘Chaos’ and predicted a successful title defense for the champion. 

At the recently announced UFC 296 event, Covington will give Edwards his second title challenge. The headliners for 2023’s last pay-per-view were recently declared by UFC CEO Dana White, who also revealed that a flyweight title fight between Alexandre Pantoja and Brandon Royval would serve as the co-main event. UFC 296 will go down in December in Las Vegas. 

This welterweight title barnburner would also mark Colby Covington’s return to action after over a year. He last dispatched his former teammate Jorge Masvidal at UFC 272 in March 2022 and hasn’t fought anyone since. While ‘Chaos’ is undoubtedly a dangerous fighter, many wonder if he’ll suffer from ring rust against Edwards.  

In a recent interview with Middle Easy, Gilbert Burns shed some light on the fight. ‘Durinho’ claimed that Leon Edwards would make easy work of Colby Covington and called his fighting skills underrated. Burns explained how the Englishman’s superior striking and distance management will make all the difference. He also touched upon ‘Rocky’s improved grappling and takedown defense. 

After predicting the UFC 296 main event, Gilbert Burns also claimed that Leon Edwards would beat Belal Muhammad. Notably, ‘Remember The Name’ beat Burns at UFC 288. Nevertheless, Burns opined that Edwards’ skills will ensure the welterweight championship doesn’t change hands anytime soon. 

Leon Edwards is coming off his second victory over Kamaru Usman at UFC 286 in March. He won over ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ by a majority decision after previously knocking him out in the fifth round at UFC 278. Edwards is now on an impressive 11-fight unbeaten streak. He’ll undoubtedly be looking to extend that in December.