Not too long after the UFC announced its new main event for UFC 294 later this month, there was another major shakeup to the Oct. 21 card in Abu Dhabi.
Former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman will step up on short notice to face Khamzat Chimaev in a middleweight bout. Chimaev’s original opponent, Paulo Costa, was not medically cleared to fight following his September elbow surgery to treat an infection.
The UFC made the 185-pound bout official late Wednesday.
Usman (20-3) last fought in March, losing a majority decision to Leon Edwards in their rematch at UFC 286. The 36-year-old has not won a fight since November 2021 when he earned a unanimous decision in his rematch with Colby Covington at UFC 268 and will be making his middleweight debut.
Chimaev (12-0) has not fought since submitting Kevin Holland in 2:13 at UFC 279 in September 2022. That bout took place at a catchweight of 180 pounds. Chimaev had initially been scheduled to fight Nate Diaz at welterweight at that event but unprofessionally missed weight by nearly 10 pounds, which resulted in the UFC making several eleventh-hour changes to the card and after the event Chimaev officially moved up a weight class.
Two of Chimaev’s first three UFC bouts took place in the middleweight division. The undefeated 29-year-old won his debut by submitting John Phillips in the second round and he also knocked out Gerald Meerschaert in 17 seconds in 2020.
Earlier this week it was announced featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski would be replacing Charles Oliveira in the main event to face lightweight champion Islam Makhachev in a rematch of their five-round modern classic from February.
Here is a look at the current projected UFC 294 fight card:
MAIN CARD
-- Islam Makhachev vs. Alexander Volkanovski
-- Kamaru Usman vs. Khamzat Chimaev
-- Magomed Ankalaev vs. Johnny Walker
-- Ikram Aliskerov vs. Warlley Alves
-- Said Nurmagomedov vs. Muin Gafurov
PRELIMINARY CARD
-- Tim Elliott vs. Muhammad Mokaev
-- Mohammad Yahya vs. Trevor Peek
-- Javid Basharat vs. Victor Henry
-- Abu Azaitar vs. Sedriques Dumas
-- Mike Breeden vs. Anshul Jubli
-- Nathaniel Wood vs. Muhammad Naimov
-- Victoria Dudakova vs. Jinh Yu Frey
-- Sharabutdin Magomedov vs. Bruno Silva
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