Khamzat Chimaev ready to fight Leon Edwards despite testing positive for COVID-19

Khamzat Chimaev and his team recently admitted that the UFC welterweight is ready to fight Leon Edwards despite reports of a positive COVID-19 test. The two superstars will clash in the main event of UFC Vegas 17 on December 19, 2020. The five-round bout between the two has the potential to be a cracker and is also the last UFC fight scheduled to take place in 2020.

On Sunday, a report went viral, claiming that Khamzat Chimaev had tested positive for COVID-19 and would not be able to fight Leon Edwards at UFC Vegas 17. However, according to MMAjunkie.com’s John Morgan, Chimaev’s team has blasted the rumours, confirming that The Wolf is “good to go” for December 19. Despite that, it has to be noted that his team didn’t explicitly deny that Chimaev has or had COVID-19.

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If the Wolf has COVID, he still has weeks to recover and get back in the Octagon by December 19. The UFC is already talking about re-booking of Curtis Blaydes vs Kevin Holland, after Holland tested COVID-19 positive a few days ago. So it’s definitely possible that the promotion will support Khamzat Chimaev and will give him more than enough time to recover before bringing in a replacement or cancelling the bout.

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Khamzat Chimaev COVID-19: UFC is mum on Chimaev’s health

It’s also worth pointing out that UFC president Dana White said nothing about Chimaev’s health in his recent post-fight conference. The match-up is a huge opportunity for the Wolf to break his way into the company’s top ranks. Khamzat Chimaev has had one of the most successful years in the UFC’s recent history and would look to cap it off with a win.

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Since making his debut in July 2020, the 9-0 fighter has competed in three major bouts, winning all of them. In his first bout, he defeated John Phillips by submission in the second round. Just ten days after the Phillips fight, Khamzat Chimaev met Rhys McKee at UFC on ESPN 14 where he won via technical knockout in the first round. His latest win came at UFC Vegas 11 as he took out Gerald Meerschaert in just 17 seconds with a sensational KO.

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Image Source: Khamzat Chimaev, Leon Edwards/ Instagram