Khamzat Chimaev and Leon Edwards are again set to share the cage in the main event of a UFC Fight Night in March, and much, much more— Fightful has all the latest fight announcements in one article.
Khamzat Chimaev vs. Leon Edwards To Headline UFC Fight Night 187
After being booked once for December, and then again in January only to fall apart, the UFC has once again booked a welterweight contender bout between Khamzat Chimaev and Leon Edwards for March.
The bout between Britain's Edwards, and Sweden's Chimaev was first set to headline the final UFC card of the year in late December, before having to be delayed due to Chimaev's COVID-19 diagnosis. The fight was then re-booked for January 20th, only to be delayed once again due to complications with Chimaev's recovery.
REAKING: @Leon_EdwardsMMA vs. @KChimaev is back on as the UFC's March 13 headliner. --
— MMA Junkie (@MMAjunkie) January 13, 2021
News via @MMAjunkieJohn
Full story: https://t.co/ddYvgLhMdq pic.twitter.com/C49RHSKrr4
Chimaev burst onto the UFC scene in 2020 with three highlight-reel finishes, including a spectacular knockout of Gerald Meerschaert back in September. Edwards hasn't fought since July of 2019 when he defeated Rafael dos Anjos and had an incredibly snakebit 2020, that saw fights vs. Tyron Woodley, and Chimaev fall out due to complications with the coronavirus.
Given that the UFC has already been bitten once by prematurely booking Chimaev, let's hope he is finally recovered and this hotly anticipated matchup can finally come together.
Report: Heavyweights Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Cyril Gane Set For March 13th
Underneath Chimaev vs. Edwards, the UFC has looked to set up an explosive heavyweight matchup between Suriname's Jairzinho Rozenstruik, and France's Cyril Gane.
Jairzinho Rozenstruik (n.3) vs. Ciryl Gane (n.7) ---------- pic.twitter.com/PDZAp6OXpG
— La Sueur (@lasueur_off) January 13, 2021
The matchup will pair two of the UFC's more exciting heavyweights each of whom are coming off stoppage wins over former UFC champion Junior dos Santos in the back half of 2020. The two fighters have only gone to decision twice combined over their entire careers, so it would seem like fireworks are almost assured in this bout.
The matchup was initially reported by French outlet La Sueur, and then confirmed by MMA Fighting.
Changes to UFC Fight Island 7
Mike Grundy has been removed from his featherweight bout with Nik Lentz. Nik Lentz will now face Movsar Evloev on January 23 in a 150-pound catchweight bout.
Interestingly Evloev's last fight was defeating Grundy, so this could potentially be a much tougher matchup for the veteran Lentz who is looking to bounce back after two consecutive losses to Arnold Allen and Charles Oliveira.
The middleweight bout between Tom Breese and No. 13-ranked Omari Akhemedov has been moved to Jan. 20, 2021.
This bout has merely been shuffled back a week, and it's unclear at this time why this has happened. The UFC cite "COVID-related issues", but if that was the case it seems unlikely it would be pushed back just a week. Regardless, this fight features Breese continuing his return from mental health struggles, facing a highly challenging opponent in ranked Russian Akhemedov.
UFC Fight Island 8 Fight Card Updated
A bantamweight bout between Ricky Simon and UFC newcomer Gaetano Pirrello has been added to the card. Pirrello owns an impressive 93 percent finishing rate and makes his UFC debut having won five of his last six bouts.
The all-action Simon was initially booked to face Brian Kelleher, before COVID-19 derailed that, so he has been rebooked vs UFC newcomer and Belgium native Gaetano Pirrello. Pirrello features a 15-5-1 record on the European regional scene, most recently under the European Beatdown promotion.
The bantamweight bout between Umar Nurmagomedov and Sergey Morozov has been added from January 23rd.
Nurmagomedov is the cousin of UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, and neither he nor his opponent Morozov have competed in the UFC before.
Shane Burgos vs. Hakeem Dawodu Scrapped From UFC 257
The featherweight bout between Shane Burgos and Hakeem Dawodu has been canceled due to injuries to both men.
Previously it had been announced that Dawodu had pulled out of his fight with Burgos, citing an injury, and it was unclear whether Burgos would be rebooked. Now it appears the UFC is saying that he is also hurt, so both fighters have been pulled from the card.
Gillian Robertson vs. Miranda Maverick Booked For UFC 258
A flyweight matchup between Canadian Gillian Robertson, and American Miranda Maverick has been added to the UFC 258 card.
The matchup features submission specialist Robertson attempting to rebound from a loss to Talia Santos in December, going up against Maverick who won her UFC debut against Liana Jojua in October. UFC 258 will be headlined by a welterweight title fight between Kamaru Usman and Gilbert Burns, and is currently without an official location, but is expected to take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Japanese Legend Shinya Aoki Booked For ONE Championship: Unbreakable
One of ONE Championship's bigger names will return to the cage on January 22nd against American James Nakashima at One Championship: Unbreakable.
Japanese grappling legend Shinya Aoki returns at @ONEChampionship 126 on Jan. 22 https://t.co/zp4Gvp32x8
— MMA Junkie (@MMAjunkie) January 12, 2021
Aoki, the legendary grappling ace, is looking to continue his comeback after dropping the ONE lightweight title to Christian Lee in 2019. Since losing the belt, Aoki has won two consecutive fights, most recently defeating Kimihiro Eto back in September. Nakashima is a former LFA lightweight champion, and is looking to bounce back after his first career loss to Kiamrian Abbasov in November.
Senegalese Viral Sensation Reug Reug To Debut For ONE Championship
On the same card that will be headlined by Aoki, Senegalese wrestler Oumar "Reug Reug" Kane will make his debut for ONE against Hong Kong's Alain Ngalani.
Per source, Hong Kong's Alain Ngalani will fight Oumar "Reug Reug" Kane at ONE Championship: Unbreakable II at heavyweight in Singapore, which will be broadcast on January 29. pic.twitter.com/8vXYfmmItJ
— Nick Atkin (@NicoSCMP) January 12, 2021
Previously Ngalani had gone been tabbed to welcome former UFC champion Vitor Belfort to the ONE cage before the pandemic changed the planned schedule. Kane on the other hand, had been linked to a matchup with legendary BJJ ace Marcus "Bucheche" Almeida as recently as late December, before ONE decided to go in another direction.
Hombres De Honor 104 Pits Team France Vs Team Spain
Hombres De Honor have announced their most recent card will take place just outside Madrid, Spain and will feature a card of entirely France vs. Spain matchups.
The long-awaited Hombres de Honor 104 has been rescheduled for February 6, featuring Team Spain vs Team France #HDH104 @WKNkickboxing @chintomordillo
— FIGHTMAG (@fightmag) January 7, 2021
More: https://t.co/UXdLywun2o pic.twitter.com/4Oa81YiwqG
The entire card can be seen below.
75 kg Pedro Galicia vs Jose Antonio ‘Pacorro’ Ibanez
88 kg Miguel Montes Survivor vs Jordan Dominguez
66 kg Joel Gallego vs Rachid Meguro
61 kg Ramon Montes vs Joffrey Rabatel
71 kg Alex Villalba vs Jesus Moreno
57 kg Jose Berrajet vs Abdellah Bellaoui
66 kg Jose ‘Pepe’ De La Cavada vs Gonzalo Garcia
57 kg Dalila Sullapa vs Ana Ruiz
61 kg Willman Junior Cuellar vs Khamzat Zimaev
70 kg Armando Bayos vs Julien Denis
77 kg Marc Luces vs Alix JeanGuillaume
52 kg Zejna Meguro vs Jade Palet
82 kg Rowan Martin vs Bastien Petit
57 kg Leandro dos Santos vs Humberto Correia
93 kg Luis Martinez vs Aurelien Teyssonneyre
71 kg Tony Meguro vs David Pierrat
62 kg Miriam Meguro Santana vs Morgane Dehaye
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