Leon Edwards and Khamzat Chimaev have a new date lined up for their welterweight scrap.
2020 played host to phase one of the meteoric rise of Khamzat Chimaev, and 2021 may very well be the year that Chimaev breaks through to the championship ranks, as the first month of the year will feature him taking on the #3-ranked welterweight in Leon Edwards. Dana White revealed to TSN that the bout between Chiamev and Edwards will now headline the January 20 Fight Night card, almost a month to the day of the original date allotted for the two on December 19.
Leon Edwards has had a lengthy inactive stretch for a multitude of reasons, chief among them being the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic caused him to be unable to compete against Tyron Woodley in March due to travel restrictions, then the virus hit him directly when his failed COVID test at the top of the month prevented him from headlining the final card of the year against Khamzat Chimaev. Leon Edwards will hope for a better 2021, not unlike the majority of the world, and that starts with attempting to derail the hype locomotive that is Khamzat Chimaev.
Khamzat Chimaev’s first three fights in the UFC were so impressive, that the UFC felt they had no choice but to push him all the way to the top and provide him with the very rare opportunity of facing a top-3 opponent after as many fights. Chimaev is currently undefeated and is projected to potentially be the next breakout star of the UFC. Should this fight with Leon Edwards go his way in January, it would be a fine start to potentially securing the Fighter of the Year award for 2021 should Chiamev live up to the enormous hype bestowed upon him with 11 months remaining and his hyperactive scheduling.
The current lineup for the January 20, 2021 UFC Fight Night consists of the following bouts:
Leon Edwards vs. Khamzat Chimaev
Viviane Araujo vs. Roxanne Modafferi
Francisco Figueiredo vs. Jerome Rivera
What is your predicted outcome for when Leon Edwards and Khamzat Chimaev finally face off on January 20?
