Khamzat Chimaev Is OUT Of His Bout With Leon Edwards Once Again Due To Lingering COVID Issues - Edwards Calls Out Nate Diaz To Step In

Well - shiiiit. 

Khamzat Chimaev was one of the UFC's most active fighters in 2020, quite literally getting multiple fights booked (within weeks of each other) at once - the first fighter since Ronda Rousey to do such a thing - but this damn coronavirus sure is making the promise of continuing that trend into 2021 difficult to keep!

This fight versus Leon Edwards was originally scheduled to take place on December 19th, until Edwards was forced to withdraw due to COVID. It was rebooked for January 20th, but then Khamzat got COVID, and due to lingering effects in his lungs which now require medication, the second go-around was cancelled and rescheduled for March 13th. 

Unfortunately, the third time wasn't the charm, tho, as COVID is still giving Khamzat Chimaev issues months down the line (mask up, mothafuckas!), and Edwards is #done with waiting around for him.

Edwards was probably getting antsy to step foot in the octagon, anyway, having not fought since July 2019....

So he said FUCK IT and called out Nate Diaz for a fight at 170 - a fight that actually kinda makes sense, too, as Ariel Helwani pointed out immediately on Twitter….

I always want more Nate Diaz in the octagon whether he's "washed" or not, just for that Stockton aura, and it's been long enough since we last saw Edwards, so you wanna get nuts? Let's get nuts! 

Count me in!

Dana White also tells Brett Okamoto in this same interview that Conor McGregor is "completely obsessed" with the Dustin Poirier rematch right now, so they'll probably go forward with that next….

I think Uncle Dana may want that title back around Mystic Mac's waist more than I do! He's still just seeing straight up DOLLAR SIGNS in Khabib/McGregor II.