UFC president Dana White is determined to see the twice-scheduled, twice-postponed bout between Leon Edwards and Khamzat Chimaev through.
The highly anticipated welterweight fight was first scheduled for Dec. 19, but then canceled when Edwards tested positive for COVID-19. Then it was rescheduled for the Jan. 20 UFC Fight Night card, but that, too, recently fell out, due to Chimaev suffering COVID-19 complications.
Edwards (18-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC), made a pitch to stay on the card, which will be held in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi. But Wednesday, White told reporter “The Schmo” the Edwards vs. Chimaev (9-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) bout will be pushed back to a date to be determined.
“The doctor told him when he went back to the gym, I guess he was having problems with his lungs, whatever that was, so they told him to take some more time off and not start training until early January,” White said of Chimaev. “We’re going to push that fight back.”
White also said the that previously scheduled co-feature bout, an intriguing welterweight matchup between Neal Magny (24-7 MMA, 17-6 UFC) and Michael Chiesa (17-4 MMA, 10-4 UFC) , will serve as the new main event, which will be the second of three UFC fight cards in 10 days to kick off the company’s 2021 schedule. No word yet on which fight will serve as the new co-main event.
With the changes, here’s the updated lineup for UFC Fight Night on Jan. 20:
- Michael Chiesa vs. Neil Magny
- Viviane Araujo vs. Roxanne Modafferi
- Tyson Nam vs. Matt Schnell
- Francisco Figueredo vs. Jerome Rivera
- Dean Barry vs. Mike Jackson
- Pedro Munhoz vs. Jimmie Rivera
- Matt Brown vs. Carlos Condit
- Zarrukh Adashev vs. Jeffrey Molina
- Lerone Murphy vs. Douglas Silva de Andrade
- Vinicius Moreira vs. Ike Villanueva
- Manon Fiorot vs. Victoria Leonardo