Leon Edwards vs. Khamzat Chimaev has been canceled for a third time.
Dana White revealed to ESPN Thursday that Khamzat Chimaev is still suffering from COVID complications and has been forced to withdraw from his March 13 fight against Leon Edwards. With this third cancellation, Edwards vs. Chimaev has managed to cover more than half of the prolonged Khabib vs. Ferguson legacy in less than one year’s time.
In an interview published earlier today, Leon Edwards stated that Chimaev was in for a rude awakening when the two met in the Octagon. Unfortunately, that designation will be reserved for both the promotion and its fans who believed the bout would be taking place this time around.
The ESPN report also revealed that the UFC has decided to throw in the towel and move on from the potential bout between Khamzat Chimaev and Leon Edwards and hopes to book Edwards against another opponent instead.
One name that may be considered is Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, who has been quite vocal about fighting Leon Edwards. Edwards has stated that he is not interested in fighting Thompson, but he also said the same thing about Chimaev prior to the three cancellations. With only one month away from the event, Edwards is unlikely to be as selective as he has been in the past.
As the UFC seeks a potential replacement to fight Leon Edwards on this same card, the updated lineup for the March 13 Fight Night includes the following bouts:
Leon Edwards vs. TBA
Dan Ige vs. TBA
Ben Rothwell vs. Philipe Lins
Davey Grant vs. Jonathan Martinez
Nasrat Haqparast vs. TBA
Ray Rodriguez vs. Rani Yahya
Eryk Anders vs. Darren Stewart
Steve Garcia vs. Charles Jourdain
Ricardo Ramos vs. Zubaira Tukhogov
Matthew Semelsberger vs. Jason Witt
Jinh Yu Frey vs. Gloria de Paula
Who would you like to see fill in to replace Khamzat Chimaev to face Leon Edwards?
