Nate Diaz vs. Leon Edwards is off… for now.
The Good News & The Bad News
Diaz, one half of the scheduled 5-round co-main event, won’t be making the trip down to Houston, Texas.
MMA reporter Kevin Iole would be the first to break the shocking news, citing a injury from Diaz would lead the UFC to ultimately moving the fight for another date in time.
Nate Diaz v Leon Edwards on June 12. Diaz has a minor injury but will be back in Glendale, Arizona
Nate Diaz v Leon Edwards on June 12. Diaz has a minor injury but will be back in Glendale, Arizona
— Kevin Iole (@KevinI) May 4, 2021
The reasoning for Diaz pulling out of the fight would later be revealed as a back injury, sustained in training camp. The rearranging of the schedule will allow Diaz to have one month to recover and get to where he needs to be.
The epic Welterweight bout would be moved to UFC 263, which moves across states to Glendale, Arizona on June 12th. The pay-per-view event will feature Israel Adesanya vs Marvin Vettori in the headliner.
The duration of the fight, especially now, is in question however. It was initially supposed to be for 5 five-minute rounds, making it the first non-title fight co-main event to be scheduled for 5 rounds. However, it is uncertain at this moment if it will maintain that contracted time as Deiveson Figueiredo vs Brandon Moreno 2 is likely to remain as the co-main event of the night.
Standing across from Diaz in the Octagon (hopefully) will be perennial contender Leon Edwards.
A ‘Rocky’ Road
Edwards hasn’t had the best of luck as of late. Before getting an unfortunate no-contest after accidentally eye-poking Belal Muhammad back in March, Edwards would hit a streak… and no we’re not talking about the second-longest win streak (8) of the Welterweight division.
“Rocky” would have 4 straight fights cancelled. He was scheduled to face #1 contender Tyron Woodley in March 2020. This would catapult him into title contention with a win over the former champ. However, just one week out from the fight, COVID-19 would shut down the whole world.
The fight was called off due to travel restrictions from Team Edwards and the opportunity would be given to rising contender Gilbert Burns in the coming months.
Edwards would defend his top ranking against the hyped phenom, Khamzat Chimaev. Or that’s what it was scheduled to be at least. The Brit caught COVID-19 in their first booking in December and it would be pushed back to January.
Second time around, Chimaev would be the one to suffer from COVID-19, postponing the battle once again.
Third Time’s The Charm?
The main event would be rescheduled to take place in March. But as you’re probably way too aware already, it didn’t happen.
“Borz” would be overcome with the lingering issues from his past COVID-19 case. The fight was off once again. Edwards vs. Chimaev seemed to be a lost cause and the UFC agreed. The promotion would no longer pursue making the fight happen.
Fingers Crossed
Edwards who suffered a 2020 on the sidelines, will have to be a benchwarmer once again. Time will tell if the potential title-eliminator will happen. One more month till we find out.
