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Leon Edwards vs. Khamzat Chimaev latest UFC main event canceled by COVID-19

The UFC’s final event of the year is the latest casualty in a string of main event cancellations or changes. UFC Vegas 17, slated for Dec. 19, on Tuesday lost its headliner after Leon Edwards was pulled from his bout with Khamzat Chimaev after he tested positive for COVID-19.

UFC broadcast partner ESPN on Tuesday reported that Edwards was out of the bout with a severe case of COVID-19. He apparently hasn’t been able to train at all for the bout with Chimaev and has lost 12 pounds in four days.

Chimaev, who made his UFC debut in July and has reeled off three straight victories in the Octagon, had hoped to use Edwards as his stepping stone to the top of the welterweight division.

No. 3 ranked Edwards last fought in July of 2019. He had hoped to return to face former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley in March, but the nearly global lockdown forced the event’s cancellation.

UFC’s final leg of 2020 plagued by COVID-19 cancellations

Every one of the UFC’s final six events of a pandemic plagued 2020 has suffered a change to its main event or outright cancellation. Most have COVID-19 to blame.

UFC Vegas 14 on Nov. 14 was originally slated to feature former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos returning to the 155-pound division opposite Islam Makhachev. Paul Felder stepped in to face dos Anjos on short notice when Makhachev withdrew because of a staph infection.

UFC 255 on Nov. 21 was supposed to feature Deiveson Figueiredo’s first flyweight title defense opposite Cody Garbrandt. That bout was nixed after Garbrandt fell out because of COVID-19. Figueiredo instead successfully defended his belt against Alex Perez.

The following week’s UFC Vegas 15 heavyweight main event between Curtis Blaydes and Derrick Lewis was canceled the morning of the weigh-in when Blaydes tested positive for COVID-19. Co-main eventers Anthony Smith and Devin Clark were elevated to headlining status.

This week’s UFC Vegas 16 main event between Jack Hermansson and Kevin Holland shifted gears after Holland tested positive for COVID-19. Holland was moved to the Dec. 12 UFC 256 fight card to face Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza. Jacare’s opponent, Marvin Vettori, has been enlisted to fight Hermansson in the UFC Vegas 16 main event in a swap of opponents.

UFC 256 has undergone several changes, though none were COVID-19 related. Having gone through several championship main event cancellations, UFC 256 finally landed on Figueiredo making a quick return to defend his belt for the second time. Barring any more changes, he will headline the card opposite No. 1 contender Brandon Moreno, who also fought and won at UFC 255.

With Edwards vs. Chimaev nixed, UFC Vegas 17 may now feature a welterweight bout between Stephen Thompson and Geoff Neal, two ranked contenders that were already inked for the Dec. 19 fight card. UFC officials, however, have not confirmed the new main event yet.

Aleksei Oleinik vs. Chris Daukaus added to UFC Fight Night on Feb. 20

Aleksei Oleinik has a return date for 2021.

The heavyweight veteran will meet Chris Daukaus on Feb. 20 at UFC Fight Night. The location for the event has yet to be announced by the UFC. A person with knowledge of the situation confirmed the booking to MMA Junkie following an initial report from Russian Instagram account JACO UFC 2.

Oleinik (59-14-1 MMA, 8-5 UFC) last fought in August, when he suffered a second-round TKO loss to Derrick Lewis in the main event of UFC Fight Night 174. The defeat snapped a two-fight winning streak for the Russian.

Meanwhile, Daukaus (10-3 MMA, 2-0 UFC) looks to continue his unbeaten run in the UFC sine joining the organization in 2018. The 31-year-old holds back-to-back wins over Parker Porter and Rodrigo Nascimento.

With this addition, the updated Feb. 20 lineup includes:

Chris Daukaus vs. Aleksei Oleinik
Danny Chavez vs. Jared Gordon

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2020/12/ufc-fight-night-aleksei-oleinik-vs-chris-daukaus-booked-feb-20

Leon Edwards out of Khamzat Chimaev bout at UFC Fight Night 183 after severe COVID case

Leon Edwards’s 2020 has been rocky to say the least.

The UFC welterweight contender tested positive for COVID-19 and has been forced to withdraw from his main event bout against rising prospect Khamzat Chimaev at UFC Fight Night 183.

MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn confirmed the news following an initial report from UFC broadcast partner ESPN.

Now, a welterweight contest between Geoff Neal and former two-time title challenger Stephen Thompson will serve as the main event for the card.

Edwards’ coronavirus case has been severe, with the British standout losing 12 pounds. He is now recovering, and the UFC plans to rebook Edwards vs. Chimaev for early 2021.

The positive COVID test and bout withdrawal cap off what’s been a tumultuous year for Edwards, who hasn’t fought since July 2019 when he defeated former UFC champion Rafael dos Anjos to extend his winning streak to eight.

Edwards was slated to return to action in March against former champion Tyron Woodley in London, but restrictions due to the global cornavirus pandemic forced the card to be canceled.

Following the cancellation of his fight with Woodley, Edwards had a tough time getting a fight. Travel restrictions didn’t help early on before callouts of Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington were unsuccessful.

Edwards was booked against Chimaev back in October. The 29-year-old Brit was briefly removed from the UFC official rankings but was reinstated once he was booked to fight Chimaev, who recently entered the UFC rankings at No. 15 on the heels of his dominant 3-0 start in the promotion.

Below is the updated line up for UFC on ESPN 19:

Geoff Neal vs. Stephen Thompson
Greg Hardy vs. Marcin Tybura
Rob Font vs. Marlon Moraes
Misha Cirkunov vs. Ryan Spann
Jose Aldo vs. Marlon Vera
Michel Pereira vs. Khaos Williams
Manel Kape vs. Alexandre Pantoja
Belal Muhammad vs. Dhiego Lima
Antonio Arroyo vs. Deron Winn
Sijara Eubanks vs. Pannie Kianzad
Drako Rodriguez vs. Aiemann Zahabi
Tafon Nchukwi vs. Jamie Pickett
Rick Glenn vs. Carlton Minus
Tyson Nam vs. Matt Schnell

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2020/12/ufc-fight-night-leon-edwards-withdraws-after-covid-positive-khamzat-chimaev-fight-off

UFC books Max Griffin vs. Song Kenan for March 20 Fight Night event

A UFC Fight Night is planned for March 20, and the lineup already has its first fight.

Welterweights Max Griffin and Song Kenan will square off at the event, which does not yet have a known location or venue at this time.

Two people with knowledge of the matchup informed MMA Junkie of the booking Tuesday but asked to remain anonymous since the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.

On Nov. 7, Griffin (16-8 MMA, 4-6 UFC) bounced back from two consecutive losses when he fought Ramiz Brahimaj at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. In the third round, Griffin splattered Brahimaj’s ear with a punch that nearly detached it completely from his opponent’s head. The gory sequence caused the fight to be waved off at the discretion of the cageside physician.

Over the span of his most recent four fights, Griffin beat Brahimaj and Zelim Imadaev – two wins that are separated by losses to Alex Morono and Alex Oliveira.

China’s Kenan (16-5 MMA, 4-1 UFC) has won four of his most recent five outings. Most recently he knocked out Callan Potter. Kenan also holds UFC wins over Bobby Nash, Hector Aldana, and Derrick Krantz.

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2020/12/ufc-news-max-griffin-vs-song-kenan-booked

Damon Jackson embracing second UFC tenure, not taking anything for granted heading into UFC Vegas 16

Looking back on his third-round submission victory over Mirsad Bektic at UFC Fight Night: Covington vs. Woodley in September, featherweight Damon Jackson isn’t overly pleased with his performance. He is happy to have gotten a win in his UFC return.

According to Jackson, the short notice of the fight may have played a part in how he was able to perform, but he was able to overcome that, as well as some surprises from Bektic, to pick up his second straight win.

“It was definitely a three-day-notice performance,” Jackson told MMAWeekly.com. “I kind of expected the fight to go on the ground, but I was kind of caught off guard that (Bektic) shot in so quickly and went for the takedown, because how was he going to stand up and get me tired at first, and he shot in.

“I have more confidence in my conditioning on the ground, so when he took me down I was totally comfortable. I never felt threatened or anything. It was just really frustrating because I didn’t get to grapple before that, so I wasn’t on point, but a win’s a win.”

Having previously been released from the UFC in 2016 following three fights with the promotion, to get a chance to return four years later is something that Jackson is grateful for.

“It’s something not a lot of people get to do: getting there so quickly, getting released, then working my way back up,” said Jackson. “It’s not easy to do for sure. There’s a lot of guys who try but it doesn’t work out for them.

“As crazy as this year is it just worked out in my favor this year because they really needed somebody to step up and I was ready to go. It was a huge opportunity and I couldn’t be happier to come in and get that win.”

This Saturday in Las Vegas, Jackson (18-3-1) will look to keep his winning streak going when he faces Ilia Topuria (9-0) in a preliminary featherweight bout at UFC Fight Night: Hermansson vs. Vettori.

“If you look at his record, you might think he might not have that much talent or might not be ready for this big of a fight, but guys are coming in with good stand-up, good Jiu-Jitsu. They know how to do their strength and conditioning; know how to do their weight cut. They’re getting taught this by the guys they work with, so this next generation of guys are killers,” Jackson said of Topuria.

“I’ll definitely be looking out for his wrestling, but I won’t lay low on his stand-up either. I think in the later rounds we’ll see how it plays out with my experience. I’m ready to go. This is something I’ve been working for so long. It feels nice to be ready, be healthy, and able to fight.”

Happy to be back in the UFC, Jackson is going to take things much slower than he did in his first run with the promotion and focus on one fight at a time instead of making grand plans for 2021.

“I think if you start getting ahead of yourself, you’ll get in trouble,” said Jackson. “You might get away with that for one or two fights, but for the most part you need to focus on the fight in front of you.

“Anyone at any time can win in MMA; it can be over at any time. I definitely don’t get ahead of myself and look ahead to next year. As soon as this fight’s over, I’ll start looking for another fight (but not until then).”

Watch Damon Jackson’s epic title win over UFC veteran Leonard Garcia

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Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/damon-jackson-embracing-second-ufc-tenure-not-taking-anything-for-granted-heading-into-ufc-vegas-16