The UFC’s insistence to hold all of their planned events amid the coronavirus pandemic has hit a snag.
UFC London was scheduled to take place on March 21 inside the O2 Arena in London, England. As it stands right now, the event is still on but will be moved to the United States. With the coronavirus pandemic in full effect, that left the main event in jeopardy as travel issues are bound to occur. Edwards lives in Birmingham, England. As a result, the original main event is off.
Leon Edwards Out Of Bout With Tyron Woodley
Sources told MMA News’ Cole Shelton that Edwards will not be competing against Woodley on Saturday night. Shortly after, “Rocky” issued the following statement on his Instagram account.
“Last night I went to sleep still with some hope that UFC London would continue next week. I woke up this morning to the news that it won’t be. We have been working with the UFC on possible solutions to keep the fight alive, but unfortunately with such a short window of time, nothing was viable. Myself and my team are all fathers, husbands, sons and brothers, and not all of us can leave our families right now. I wish we could have found a way for the fans, I truly do.
I have been dreaming of headlining a UFC show in my home country since I started this sport. This cancellation is truly heartbreaking. I have never worked harder and never been more prepared for the biggest moment in my career. But I know that the whole world is hurting right now and this is bigger than me, this is bigger than sports.
All I can hope for is that all of you stay safe and look after each other as we get past this and move forward. I am humbled by the thousands of messages of support I have received in the hours since the announcement, I truly appreciate you all and feel a lot of love right now. I look forward to this event being rebooked when it is safe to do so, so Tyron and I can put on the show that you all deserve.
Please take care, we will all get through [this].”
This would’ve undoubtedly been the biggest fight in Edwards’ pro MMA career. Many believed that “Rocky” would’ve received his first crack at UFC gold had he defeated the former welterweight champion, Woodley. There’s no word on whether or not the UFC will ultimately cave in and cancel the March 21 event.
