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“He Can Stop Calling Everybody Out on Twitter” – Dana White Confirms Khamzat Chimaev vs Leon Edwards

Published 10/24/2020, 1:09 PM EDT

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UFC President Dana White has been doing the media rounds ahead of UFC 254. On the Jim Rome show, Dana broke the news that he has finally found Khamzat Chimaev a fight.

Chimaev has been on a rocket ship like trajectory racking up three finishes. What is shocking is that Khamzat only made his debut back in July this year.

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Khamzat Chimaev was signed by the UFC from Bahrain-based promotion BRAVE CF. Chimaev has fought three times in three months, not only making him a huge star in the UFC but also a favorite in Dana White’s books.

Chimaev has found fights difficult to come by. Most fighters in the top 10 of the UFC welterweight and middleweight division have turned down the Khamzat fight.

Khamzat has been very active on Twitter calling out the UFC roster. The fighters, however, see it as a significant risk to fight someone who is ranked below them and with a lot of momentum behind him.

White was asked by Rome if any potential fight had been secured for Khamzat Chimaev. “We just got a deal done yesterday for Leon Edwards vs Chimaev,” Dana said, breaking the news.

Dana White confirms Leon Edwards vs Khamzat Chimaev

“They will fight and it will be a great fight,” Dana continued. “He (Khamzat) can stop calling everybody out on Twitter now. He’s got an opponent.”

Dana praised Khamzat’s approach since joining the promotion. “Let me tell you what, this guy fought on Fight Island, went in there, and absolutely destroyed a really good prospect.”

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“Then he then got on the mic and said ‘I want to fight again next week,’ ” Dana continued. “He came up and said ‘I’m dead serious, I want to fight again next week.’ ”

“We get him another fight and he destroys another really good prospect, easily,” the UFC President said, “So, then he says he wants to fight again next week, and I said wait a minute let’s wait till you get home.”

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Dana continued his admiration of Khamzat saying, “We end up getting a fight against a very, very tough vet, he goes in and crushes him with one punch, and he’s a weight class higher.”

“This kid one fight away from being a massive superstar,” Dana summed up. “If he can beat Leon Edwards, he’s going to be a massive superstar.”

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Khamzat Chimaev vs Leon Edwards is reportedly scheduled for December 19. Leon’s last loss was to current champion Kamaru Usman. A win for Leon would secure him as one of the next challengers for Usman, but a win for Chimaev would put the Swedish star on the path to superstardom in the UFC.

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Written by:

Keith Dsouza

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Keith D'Souza is part of the Essentially Sports MMA writing team. Having followed the sport since 2013, some of his favorite fighters include Max Holloway, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Conor McGregor, and Johny Hendricks. Keith also runs PureMMAIndia, a brand that promotes MMA over social media which aims at growing the sport in India.
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