UFC 296 stars Leon Edwards and Colby Covington separated by security after almost coming to blows following low dad joke

LEON EDWARDS and Colby Covington had to be separated by security after almost prematurely coming to blows.

Brit Edwards will make the second defence of his welterweight title against the controversial American early on Sunday morning in the main event of UFC 296 in Las Vegas.

The proud Brummie has been on the receiving end of multiple social media and interview digs from Covington down the years.

Edwards, 32, had to endure even more taunts during Friday morning's pre-fight press conference at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

But this time, he got the opportunity to get up close and personal with the former interim champion after hearing his jibes.

A crass joke about his late father - who was murdered when he was 13 years old - caused Edwards to snap and throw a water bottle at Covington.

Edwards erupted after Covington said: "I'm bringing you to the seventh layer of hell.

"We'll say what's up to your dad there."

Security promptly jumped in and stopped the pair from prematurely trading blows.

And they were on hand as the duo took to the stage for the first of their two pre-fight staredowns.

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Covington, unsurprisingly, did his best to continue to try to get into the head of the champ by flapping his gums.

But Edwards cut a cold and stoic figure as he looked deep into the soul of the fan favourite.

Covington hasn't set foot inside the octagon in nearly two years, defeating the retired Jorge Masvidal in their UFC 272 grudge match.

And Edwards was far from impressed by what he saw of 'Chaos' in his decision win over the MMA veteran.

He said: “He’s not as good as everyone thinks.

“He’s a guy that’s been stopped before by TKO, been choked out before, been taken down before, so there’s many ways that you can beat him.

"He’s just a normal fighter that’s more scrappy, basically.

"He’s like [Kamaru] Usman, but more scrappy, basically.

"Me and the team have come up with a great game plan to neutralize everywhere where he’s good at and my aim is to out and take him out.”