Another year, another fight cancellation for Leon Edwards, as his 2021 debut against Khamzat Chimaev is off once again.
Originally reported by Frontkick and since confirmed, Khamzat Chimaev is out of his UFC Fight Night 185 main event against Leon Edwards on January 20. This marks the second time the bout has been canceled. At the time of publication, there is no word on if the bout will be rescheduled again or if Edwards will face a replacement.
Khamzat Chimaev became an overnight sensation after his sudden burst onto the MMA scene in 2020. With three utter dominations over his opponents, Dana White and the UFC saw enough and decided to book Chimaev, who was unranked at the time, against the #3-ranked Leon Edwards. The fight was originally scheduled to take place on December 19, but that fight was canceled after Edwards contracted the coronavirus. This led to the bout being rescheduled for January 20, and we have now learned that the world will have to continue waiting to see Khamzat Chimaev face his first test against a ranked opponent.
Leon Edwards has not fought since July of 2019 when he defeated Rafael dos Anjos via unanimous decision. Edwards hoped that his next fight against Tyron Woodley would earn him a title shot against Kamaru Usman, but that fight was cancelled due to travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. So Edwards had to sit on the sideline and watch as Gilbert Burns took his place, defeated Woodley, and has now emerged as the #1 contender instead of him.
Leon Edwards went from being scheduled against a former champion to facing an unranked phenom, but he believed that either victory would net him a world title shot. With this fight cancellation, it is possibly back to the sidelines for Edwards once again as he continues to await his first fight in well over a year.
After this cancellation, the current UFC Fight Night 185 lineup consists of the following bouts:
Michael Chiesa vs. Neil Magny
Pedro Munhoz vs. Jimmie Rivera
Viviane Araujo vs. Roxanne Modafferi
Tyson Nam vs. Matt Schnell
Francisco Figueredo vs. Jerome Rivera
Dean Barry vs. Mike Jackson
Zarrukh Adashev vs. Jeffrey Molina
Stay tuned here on MMANews.com for updates on UFC Fight Night 185 and its fluid main event situation.
