UFC 296 LIVE: Leon Edwards vs Colby Covington updates and results tonight

Irene Aldana def. Karol Rosa via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).

That one really could have gone either way. Rosa did a lot of damage to Aldana’s lead leg, but Aldana managed to keep coming forward, and she hurt Rosa badly to the head time and again.

Rosa shoots for a single-leg takedown, but there’s nothing doing. Stern jab by Aldana.

Rosa staggers Aldana with another heavy low kick then lands a nice right overhand.

Lovely left hook to the body by Aldana, and Rosa is retreating! Now Aldana targets the head of Rosa, and the cut around Rosa’s left eye is leaking blood!

Hard left hook by Rosa, but Aldana attacks the body to good effect again; her coaches are calling for more body shots!

Beautiful left hook to the body by Aldana then an uppercut to the head.

Rosa’s face is a bloody mess now. She’s eating shots… but she roars back! What a final round!

Sharp jab by Rosa, who then resumes her assault on the lead leg of Aldana. She’s landed 25 low kicks – and counting.

Aldana cracks Rosa with a nice one-two, though. Beautiful right cross by Aldana, and Rosa doesn’t like that one bit!

Rosa fires back, however her left eye is starting to sport some damage here.

OH! A clean right cross lands for Aldana late in the round! That one really cracked Rosa’s jaw.

Both women stand orthodox. Rosa with an overhand right and low kick on the opposite side. Now Aldana kicks low.

Aldana pops Rosa with a jab. Rosa comes back with a right cross and another inside low kick. And she repeats the combination two more times.

Now an outside low kick on the right, and Aldana stumbles! That lead leg is taking a battering. Then Rosa times a one-two perfectly.

Aldana catches Rosa on the end of a left hook upstairs. More leg kicks by Rosa, and Aldana’s lead leg buckles again and again. Her stance is so wide.

A couple of nice straight punches land for Aldana late in the round, though.

Okay, here are the result so far tonight:

Cody Garbrandt def. Brian Kelleher via first-round KO (3:42)

Ariane Lipski def. Casey O’Neill via second-round submission (armbar, 1:18)

Tagir Ulanbekov def. Cody Durden via second-round submission (rear naked choke, 4:25)

Andre Fili def. Lucas Almeida via first-round TKO (3:32)

Shamil Gaziev def. Martin Buday via second-round TKO (0:56)

We begin our live coverage with a women’s bantamweight bout between Irene Aldana and Karol Rosa!

Right, just before our fight updates begin in a few minutes (don’t go anywhere!), here’s a fun bit of content…

Manchester United legend and ex-England defender Rio Ferdinand visited Edwards at his gym in Birmingham recently.

Here’s what happened…

More thoughts on tonight’s main event:

Arguably, the likeliest route to victory for Edwards is a TKO as Covington lurches forward. Meanwhile, the worst-case scenario could be a fight in which he is overwhelmed and simply cannot get going or set his feet.

All in all, composure will be key to Edwards cracking Covington’s code.

The regular prelims are now under way. Just a reminder that our round-by-round updates will begin in a couple of fights’ time. At that time, we’ll also provide a round-up of all tonight’s results so far.

Edwards has always had a calm aura about him, but he is tenacious; to highlight that Covington has that same quality in abundance is not to suggest that Edwards doesn’t. Similarly, to praise the beauty and efficiency of Edwards’s eclectic techniques is not to suggest that Covington is entirely raw or reckless. However, he is often wild.

The likelihood in tonight’s main event is that Covington, a cardio machine, will bear down on Edwards for as many of the 25 scheduled minutes as possible, forcing “Rocky” onto the back foot and to compromise on technique. The task for Edwards, then, will be to maintain that technique and to pick holes in the American’s frantic and sometimes faulty striking.

More thoughts on how Edwards vs Covington might play out – and why – here:

Covington carried out his media-day duties for UFC 296 while sporting a jacket featuring Donald Trump’s mugshot.

Ex-US president Trump, who has expressed his intention to be present in Las Vegas tonight, is known to be friends with the controversial Covington.

Trump has attended numerous UFC events in recent years – and as recently as UFC 295 in November – and Covington paid tribute to the 77-year-old on Wednesday by turning up to a media day with a jacket featuring Trump’s mugshot.