In place of the injured Paulo Costa, Kamaru Usman will compete at middleweight in UFC 294 on October 21 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. UFC president Dana White made the announcement on Wednesday.
After having surgery on his right elbow three weeks prior to treating an infected bursa, Costa wasn’t given the all-clear medically. The former title contender disclosed the damage on Monday. Costa, who has spent the last four weeks in Abu Dhabi, declared at “The MMA Hour” that he “definitely” still intended to take on Chimaev.
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Usman, a former UFC welterweight champion, will face Chimaev in his first fight at 185 pounds.
Additionally, the 36-year-old will want to end a two-fight losing streak. In August 2022, Usman was knocked out in the fifth round by current champion Leon Edwards, and in their March trilogy matchup, Usman was defeated by a majority decision.
Dana White, the CEO of the UFC, made the new bout public on social media on Wednesday.
Since submitting Kevin Holland in a welterweight match in September 2022, Chimaev has not entered the Octagon. Chimaev was supposed to compete against Nate Diaz in the UFC 279 main event, but he misjudged his weight and was put up against Holland. Chimaev, who has a perfect UFC record, will fight for the first time at middleweight since 2020.
Islam Makhachev, the current lightweight champion, and Alexander Volkanovski, the current featherweight champion, will square off again at UFC 294. Charles Oliveira withdrew due to injury, and Volkanovski filled in on 11 days’ notice.
Less than a day ago, White stated that the previously scheduled main event between Islam Makhachev and Charles Oliveira would not take place as planned and that Alexander Volkanovski would take his place in place of Oliveira, who had sustained a cut during training on Monday.
UFC 294 Fight Card Includes:
- Islam Makhachev vs. Alexander Volkanovski – for the lightweight title
- Kamaru Usman vs. Khamzat Chimaev
- Magomed Ankalaev vs. Johnny Walker
- Ikram Aliskerov vs. Nassourdine Imavov
- Muin Gafurov vs. Said Nurmagomedov
- Tim Elliott vs. Muhammad Mokaev
- Trevor Peek vs. Mohammad Yahya
- Javid Basharat vs. Victor Henry
- Abu Azaitar vs. Sedriques Dumas
- Mike Breeden vs. Anshul Jubli
- Muhammad Naimov vs. Nathaniel Wood
- Viktoriia Dudakova vs. Jinh Yu Frey
- Shara Magomedov vs. Bruno Silva
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