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Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on
your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the
ESPN app. It appears that the
Ultimate Fighting Championship got what it wanted from Leon
Edwards after all. On Friday, UFC President Dana White appeared on the Jim Rome Show to
announce that Edwards (18-3) has been booked against Khamzat
Chimaev (9-0) to headline the Dec.
19 UFC Fight Night card. The two welterweights – Chimaev will
be returning to 170 pounds for this bout – will face one another in
Las Vegas at the UFC Apex. Additional confirmation of the
headlining nature of the matchup came from ESPN.
“So we just got a deal done yesterday for Leon
Edwards vs. Chimaev,” White exclaimed. “They will fight, it
will be a great fight, and…[Chimaev] can stop calling everybody out
on Twitter now. He’s got an opponent.” White continued, “If he can
beat Leon
Edwards, he’s gonna be massive superstar in the UFC.”
Edwards was
pulled from the rankings on Thursday, in a much-ridiculed move
that saw Edwards publicly respond to the allegations of inactivity.
Despite that multiple fighters were currently still ranked despite
having fought longer ago than Edwards, the UFC decided to pull him.
One day later, after the news of this pairing came to light,
Edwards is now back as the
#3 ranked welterweight on the UFC rankings.
When learning of the rankings news on Thursday, Edwards posted
on Twitter, “I’m still in the rankings. F— all the
inactivity, the only reason I haven’t fought is because all these
so called top guys turned me down. Khamzat want to fight then?”
Chimaev replied
minutes later that he was interested in fighting Edwards,
writing, “I’m always ready to fight. Let’s go. Rock’n’roll
baby.”
“Rocky” has put together an incredible win streak inside the
Octagon since losing to current champ Kamaru
Usman in 2015. Winner of eight consecutive bouts including
names like Donald
Cerrone, Vicente
Luque and Rafael dos
Anjos, Edwards nearly received a title shot on short notice
against Usman but he could not take the match due to the
coronavirus pandemic travel restrictions. For various reasons, the
Brit has not set foot in the cage since July 2019, although a
pairing against Tyron
Woodley in March was scuttled due to COVID-19.
Chimaev is currently unranked on the UFC roster, and he sports just
one UFC win at 170 pounds over former lightweight and newcomer
Rhys
McKee, where the latter took the fight on short notice. Ranked
as the
#148 welterweight on FightMatrix, he will be taking a
tremendous step up in competition as he takes on #6
Edwards. Undefeated as a professional, Chimaev has finished all
nine opponents inside the distance. “Borz” last appeared in
September, where he separated Gerald
Meerschaert from his consciousness in 17 seconds at
middleweight.
