Khamzat Chimaev vs Leon Edwards was pushed back again and is following the route of Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Tony Ferguson
One fight that most UFC fans would have loved to see was Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Tony Ferguson. The pair have been set up to meet five times but it got cancelled for some reason or another.
Covid-19 and injuries seemed to have cursed this fight and Chael Sonnen believes another huge clash is following the same route.
Leon Edwards was supposed to fight rising star Khamzat Chimaev in the final UFC event of the year. However, that fight was pushed to a later date after both stars contracted Covid-19.
It was then moved to Fight Night 185 on 20 January, 2021 but the fight was cancelled. The UFC hasn’t stated its plans for this but Sonnen believes they will meet sometime in the future.
However, Sonnen also was worried that this fight could also be cursed:
“Which brings them one step closer to being the new Khabib Tony. This is the third time at bat, you guys will remember Khabib vs Tony.
“When Dana struck our twice and said he would never book that fight again, ended up booking it a total of five times.
“Just before Tony vs [Charles] Oliveira press conference and go ahead and try to do that number six.
“I only bring that to you because three might be the second best record, it might be the second best record to the booby prize in all of MMA.”
Bad luck for both stars
Chimaev and Edwards both have been impressive in their previous outings and the pair meeting would have been something great.
Edwards hasn’t fought since 2014 and is on an eight-fight win streak. However, he hasn’t fought since July 2019 and this fight getting cancelled was just bad luck.
Chimaev had been one of the breakout stars in the UFC in 2020. However, he seems to be struggling in his recovery post-Covid and some of his star power would have been taken off after this.
Hopefully, both stars can meet sooner rather than later. Khabib vs Ferguson might not ever take place but Edwards and Chimaev have enough time to meet in 2021.
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