Kamaru Usman to fight Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294

By : Oluyemi Ogunseyin

Date: 12 October 2023 2:34pm WAT

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH - AUGUST 20: Kamaru Usman of Nigeria looks on in a welterweight title bout against Leon Edwards of Jamaica during UFC 278 at Vivint Arena on August 20, 2022 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Alex Goodlett/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Alex Goodlett / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight champion Kamaru Usman has been scheduled to fight Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi on October 21, 2023.
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Usman will do battle with the explosive Swedish fighter in a much-anticipated fight in the middleweight division at the Etihad Arena on Yas Island.

UFC president Dana White announced the fight in a statement on Instagram on Wednesday.

That was after Brazilian Paulo Costa was not medically cleared to go into the octagon after recently undergoing surgery on his elbow after an infection.
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White was also happy that Usman has agreed to take the fight on a ten-day notice. “We got it done,” the UFC CEO said on Instagram.

“The No. 4 welterweight in the world, Khamzat Chimaev, is moving up to middleweight and will face the No. 1 welterweight in the world Kamaru Usman.”
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Usman would be seen as the underdog going into the fight due to the short notice in which he has taken up the challenge.