Colby Covington’s coaches reveal the big change they made ahead of Leon Edwards fight

Colby Covington has made a big change ahead of his UFC 296 title fight against Leon Edwards, according to his coaches, Cesar Carneiro and Daniel Valverde.

Covington is set to fight for the first time since March of 2022 when he beat Jorge Masvidal by decision. Since then, he has been in the gym waiting to get into a fight, which his coaches say has made ‘Chaos’ more hungry.

Not only has Colby Covington been in the gym, but his coaches revealed that ‘Chaos’ has made a big change to his style as he will now be an orthodox fighter and not a southpaw. According to Cesar Carneiro, they realized Covington has never been a southpaw, so they expect him to be a much better striker come Dec. 16.

“We realized that Colby is not a real southpaw. So, now we know exactly what we have to work with him. Get his cross better, get his orthodox better, and we did. If you look at him now, he’s amazing. He doesn’t drop his hand like before, like a boxer,” Carneiro said to Sherdog.

With Colby Covington now fighting in his correct stance, his coaches believe that will pay dividends for him. They believe Covington is a much better striker with more power now, so they expect ‘Chaos’ to get a knockout win in the third or fourth round.

“I don’t think it’s going to pass the fourth round,” Carneiro said.

After Carneiro’s prediction, Daniel Valverde quickly followed suit with a similar prediction for Colby Covington vs. Leon Edwards.

“I think TKO fourth round. Third or fourth-round TKO Colby,” Valverde said.

Colby Covington hasn’t gotten a knockout win since he beat Tyron Woodley but that was a TKO injury. His last real TKO was against Max Griffin at UFC 202. Leon Edwards, meanwhile, has never been knocked out in his career, so if ‘Chaos’ does indeed earn a TKO, it would be a statement-making performance.