A major welterweight clash between Leon Edwards and Khamzat Chimaev has now been rebooked for UFC Fight Night 187 on March 13th at a destination still to be confirmed.
This will mark the third time in recent months that the UFC has attempted to put on the fight, which was first scheduled for December 19th, but had to be postponed due to both fighters testing positive for Covid-19.
Edwards had lost 12lbs during his battle with the disease, but then it was actually Chimaev who pulled out of a rescheduled fight between them on January 20th due to still suffering lingering symptoms.
Now it seems that both fighters now have two months to get ready to finally get in the Octagon at a time when they both have title aspirations at 170lbs.
Edwards in particular has been banging on the door of title contention as the No.3 contender in the weight class following an eight-fight winning streak that’s seen him defeat the likes of Donald Cerrone, Gunnar Nelson and Rafael dos Anjos.
However, it has now been well over a year-and-a-half since Edwards last fought and so that has taken some of the momentum out of his push and means he still has work to do before he can finally land the shot at the title that he has his sights set on.
Given that he’s only ranked No.15, on paper Chimaev isn’t the logical choice to fight a leading contender like Edwards, but the reality is that he is one of the fastest rising stars in the sport like now, having been championed by Dana White and so far having blasted through two opponets in 10 days last year on Fight Island, followed by a 17 second KO victory over Gerald Meerschaert a couple of months later.
As such, Chimaev could take a massive leap up the welterweight rankings if he can overcome Edwards, who is undoubtedly by far his toughest test to date in what will also be his first opportunity to headline a show.
