UFC 296 experts' picks and best bets: How Colby Covington can upset Leon Edwards - ESPN

Leon Edwards will defend his welterweight championship against Colby Covington in the main event of two-title-fight UFC 296 on Saturday in Las Vegas (ESPN+ PPV main card at 10 p.m. ET, prelims on ESPN2/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. and early prelims on ESPN+ at 6 p.m.).

The other title bout at T-Mobile Arena features Alexandre Pantoja making the first defense of his flyweight belt against Brandon Royval.

Edwards (21-3, 1 NC) is unbeaten in his last 12 fights. The No. 4 fighter in ESPN's pound-for-pound rankings, Edwards last fought in March, beating former champ Kamaru Usman by majority decision.

Covington (17-3), who will be making his third title challenge after twice being unsuccessful against Usman, has not fought since beating Jorge Masvidal by unanimous decision in March 2022.

Pantoja (26-5) beat Brandon Moreno by split decision in July to win the title. He is No. 1 in the ESPN men's flyweight rankings. The seventh-ranked Royval (15-6) has won three in a row since a second-round submission loss to Pantoja in 2021.

ESPN's Marc Raimondi spoke to UFC welterweight Belal Muhammad, who is serving as a backup this weekend in case either main event fighter drops out, to get his perspective on the welterweight title fight and former two-time men's flyweight champion Brandon Moreno to get his thoughts on the co-main event. ESPN's betting experts Reed Kuhn and Ian Parker add their insights and analysis on the title fights and other intriguing bets they like on the card.

Editor's note: Responses have been edited for brevity and clarity.

How Edwards wins: A lot of movement. Edwards has to take the center and avoid getting pushed to the cage. Don't get lazy with takedown defense. Even if he gets taken down, he can't get frustrated. Don't let