The UFC 294 card in Abu Dhabi, UAE, on October 21 just became more exciting as former UFC champion Kamaru Usman stepped in to face Khamzat Chimaev in a much anticipated co-main event. Originally, top middleweight contender Paulo Costa was scheduled to fight the Swedish fighter, but he had to withdraw due to an elbow injury and a surgery that followed that prevented him from being medically cleared.
Chimaev, who boasts an undefeated 12-0 record, hasn’t competed since his dominating victory over Kevin Holland in September 2022. Kamaru Usman, the former welterweight champion with a record of 20-3, has taken the opportunity to make a quick turnaround and enter the middleweight division for the first time. He aims to bounce back from back-to-back losses to reigning champion Leon Edwards.
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However, it seems like Kamaru Usman was not originally interested in fighting Khamzat, as an old clip of him shows that ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ was not impressed with Chimaev’s attitude towards him after the latter put forward some conditions for their fight.
“They have you ranked at number three in my division. I’m number one, and I say, Okay, let’s fight, but then you say, No, I don’t want to make that weight come up to a little weight to fight me”.- said the former UFC champion.
He stated that the desire for the two to face off was universal, but the Chechen fighter’s unwillingness to meet the 170-pound weight limit was the obstacle preventing the fight from materializing.
Kamaru Usman reacts after replacing Paulo Costa at UFC 294
UFC president Dana White announced recently that Paulo Costa would not be able to participate in his scheduled UFC 294 bout against Khamzat Chimaev. This decision came after Costa had recently undergone elbow surgery, and his medical condition prevented his participation in the event.
To White’s relief, Kamaru Usman has stepped up to the challenge, accepting the bout against Chimaev with less than two weeks’ notice. While fans were praising the top UFC fighter for saving the much-awaited event for the UFC, he has also reacted to it. He tweeted a couple of emojis, which has left everyone confused about how the former champ feels about the fight.
😏😏
— KAMARU USMAN (@USMAN84kg) October 11, 2023
Anyways, this is a significant move for Usman as he is making the transition to the 185-pound weight class to compete in the co-main event, which will take place in Abu Dhabi on October 21. This might as well reflect his plans to challenge Sean Strickland for UFC middleweight gold. However, he would like to focus on the fight against ‘Borz‘ first.
This last-minute development adds an extra layer of excitement to UFC 294, making it a must-watch event. This is not the only fight in the card that saw last-minute changes, as featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski stepped in to save the main event after Charles Oliveira got injured and pulled out of the fight against Islam Makhachev.