Stephen Thompson has given his thoughts on the welterweight title fight between Leon Edwards and Colby Covington at UFC 296.
Covington, who failed to capture the belt twice, will have his third chance against Edwards, who’s coming off back-to-back victories against arguably the best wrestler in the welterweight division, Kamaru Usman.
Thompson believes Edwards has the upper hand in this matchup since Covington lost to the same fighter Edwards defeated twice.
“I like Leon (wins),” Thompson said during a recent appearance on The MMA Hour. “Colby Covington, we saw what happened with Colby Covington and Usman. Of course, Colby Covington is not coming off of a severe knockout from this guy, but if you look back at the fight, I feel like Leon Edwards is the bigger welterweight. I feel like the fight is going to stay standing. Even Usman couldn’t hold him down, he got right back up. And the first fight, Leon took him down, something that Colby couldn’t do. Something Colby had much difficulty doing [against Usman].
“Leon is definitely the better striker. The only thing that I think Colby has is the cardio. If he stays in his face and stays relentless, but that’s very dangerous with somebody like Leon because he can throw. [Edwards] is very dangerous from the very beginning all the way to the very end of that fight as we saw the very first [title fight with Usman]. He’s just as dangerous as he is in the first as he is in the first round and that’s scary. I think he’s going to keep the fight standing, I think he’s going to win the fight standing up. He’s definitely the better striker.”
Stephen Thompson is set to fight Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 296.
Do you agree with Stephen Thompson?
