Leon Edwards may not be fighting on January 20th on UFC Fight Island 8 after Khamzat Chimaev pulled out of the hugely anticipated bout against the #3 ranked welterweight contender. However, we have a new main event in the form of Neil Magny vs Michael Chiesa. Appearing on the Schmo, UFC President Dana White broke the news.
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“I just saw that Ali came out today and said that he had COVID. I don’t know why he wasn’t telling people that but for some reason, he didn’t want people to know that he had COVID. But the doctor told that when went back to the hospital, he was having problems with his lungs.”
Earlier, when the news broke that Chimaev had pulled out of the Edwards bout, the reason was unknown. It was only after the news had made headlines, that Chimaev’s manager Ali Abdelaziz revealed the real reason behind Chimaev’s withdrawal from the bout. Needless to say, the match-up will be pushed to a later date according to UFC President Dana White.
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“We are gonna do Magny vs Chiesa. Both of these guys, you know. They finally get to get a headline spot. They both deserve it and it should be a fun one stylistically.”
Meanwhile, Neil Magny and Michael Chiesa have stepped up to main-event the UFC Fight Island scheduled to take place on January 20. Magny is currently ranked #9 in the UFC welterweight rankings. On the other hand, Chiesa is ranked #8 and will look to cement his position with a win over the MMA veteran.
When is Khamzat Chimaev vs Leon Edwards?
According to Dana White, Chimaev won’t be back to training until early January. It looks like the bout could be rescheduled to sometime in February. Needless to say, the UFC will look to make this fight as early as possible after already having been postponed a couple of times.
It’s an interesting match-up and one that puts Khamzat Chimaev right in the race for the title with just three wins inside the Octagon. Additionally, it is interesting to note that Chimaev has only fought once at the welterweight division with the other two bouts coming at the middleweight division.
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Meanwhile, Leon Edwards hasn’t fought since July 2019 and will look to make a comeback with a win over the most talked about fighter in the UFC right now, Khamzat Chimaev.
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