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Real Extent of Broken Foot Comes to Light as Colby Covington Blames Injury for Embarrassing UFC 296 Loss Against Leon Edwards

Published 12/21/2023, 9:42 AM EST

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“Edwards is always looking for ways to bend the rules and cheat a little bit. So, I think that’s my biggest concern,” said Colby Covington before going up against Leon Edwards at UFC 296 for the Welterweight title. But Covington should’ve had other concerns because the main event was anything but contentious. In fact, the fight failed to live up to its expectations, especially after Covington generated immense hype through his controversial tactics. But none of it accounted for much.

UFC 296 was a memorable night, but surely not for Covington. Competing in his third title fight, the third time wasn’t the charm for the American. Instead, Leon Edwards defended his title via unanimous decision, contrary to the close contest everyone was expecting the fight to be. Most were shocked to see such a one-sided affair. But now, it seems like we have an understandable clarification from Colby “Chaos” Covington.

Covington got injured but feels he ‘beat Edwards’

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Recently, the former UFC interim champion appeared on the PBD Podcast. In the first few minutes, he revealed an important and previously unknown detail about his UFC 296 fight. While talking about his championship bout, “Chaos” stated that he suffered a fractured foot in the cage. Not only this, but he also revealed that he suffered from this injury in the very first minute of the fight. “I broke my foot in the first 30 seconds of the fight. People don’t know about that yet, the X-Rays will start coming up,” he said.

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This came after “Chaos” claimed that he felt he beat Edwards in the bout. “I didn’t get touched,” he said,  “Look at my face, I didn’t got any scratches on it. Looking it back, I doubled him in strikes count. I had five minutes of control time; he didn’t have one minute. So I feel like I beat him in the fight.” Moreover, the American fighter also stated that this gruesome injury was caused by his foot hitting Edwards’ leg.

“[It happened in] the first moment of the fight. I have the picture on my phone, the exact moment where it landed on his elbow.” Covington further explained how that incident compromised his fight. It’s tough. It limits your mobility. I couldn’t really move after that, I was kind of stuck in a place. I was just trying to make sure that I get through the fight,” he added. Considering what Colby Covington is saying is true, he will surely need a long time to heal from this injuryAnd chances are, he may not even return to the Octagon.

Will Colby Covington retire?

Even after the unexpected loss at UFC 296, Covington doesn’t seem to be dropping his heel persona. Instead of accepting defeat, “Chaos” claimed to have won the fight. However, fans have been wondering what is next for him, especially considering Covington has lost all three title fights in his career. Before their match-up, Edwards gave his thoughts on his opponent.

In an interview with MMAFightingonSBN, Edwards said, “Me cementing the last nail on his coffin will just be a joy. I can’t see him sticking around and fighting all of these younger guys. He’s already turned them all down already, so I can’t see him having that same mentality and grind to go out there and compete against these younger guys.”

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UFC veteran Chael Sonnen talked about the American fighter’s future as well. “I don’t know if he wants to start over. That’s the hard truth. I don’t know that we see Colby Covington again,” Sonnen said. While Edwards and Sonnen believe Covington’s time in the Octagon is limited, fans of “Chaos” would surely want to see him fighting again,

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When do you think Colby Covington will return to the Octagon? Or do you think that the American MMA fighter will retire? Let us know in the comments below.

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Written by:

Sushant Sharma

920Articles

One take at a time

I am a 24-year-old MMA enthusiast and a UFC Writer at EssentiallySports. My passion for mixed martial arts has been a significant part of my life for over five years. Having previously trained in boxing, I developed a deep appreciation for combat sports.
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Edited by:

Abhishek Kumar Das