Leon Edwards will defend his welterweight crown against Colby Covington at UFC 296 in December as the Jamaican-born champion attempts to retain his title for a second time.

The showdown bout will mark nine months since Edwards last stepped into the octagon after defending his title against Kamaru Usman in London in March.

Having already won his first championship belt against Usman and successfully defended it against the 'Nigerian Nightmare' in , Edwards is now faced with a new and different type of opponent in Covington, as revealed by UFC president Dana White on social media.

The fight had long been on the cards with Covington previously slamming Edwards for not taking the chance to fight him in the UK during the summer, stating: 'That's not the act of a champion, and that's why he's not a champion - he's nothing more than a placeholder.

'He's not even a household name. In the UK, he's got a fanbase because they've promoted him well. But besides that, the guy doesn't sell.'

Both will now meet in Las Vegas on December 16, with Edwards preparing to take on the currently unranked American in the octagon just over a week before Christmas.

Edwards will try to inflict a fourth career defeat on Covington who recently lost his UFC ranking due to inactivity, with his last fight coming in a unanimous decision victory against Jorge Masvidal at UFC 272 in March last year.

However, Covington is desperate to reclaim the welterweight crown after previously losing his belt to Usman and subsequent rematch, while Edwards has now twice beaten the heavy-hitting 36-year-old.

The pair will headline the co-main event alongside flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja and aspiring hopeful Brandon Royval. 

Pantoja has lost five fights during 31 bouts and heads into his title defence off the back of four consecutive victories, most recently beating Brandon Moreno to claim the flyweight title.

Rovyal similarly heads into the bout with a boost of confidence behind him after three straight wins and has had to wait four-years for a new title opportunity.

The pair are separated by eight places in the flyweight rankings with Pantoja ranked No.1 and Rovyal at No.8. 

However, there was no mention from White on a possible return to UFC's pay-per-view stage for Conor McGregor despite the Irishman teasing the possibility of fighting later this year.