Earlier tonight news broke that breakout star Khamzat Chimaev would be out of his scheduled bout with Leon Edwards for March 13 due to COVID-related issues that had been lingering.
During an interview with ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, UFC president Dana White broke the news while also sharing that the UFC would be looking to find Edwards a new opponent instead of rescheduling this bout for the fourth time.
One top-ranking Welterweight has thrown their name into the conversation and that was the #5 ranked Stephen Thompson who took to Twitter sharing some support for Chimaev’s recovery and offering to step in and face Leon Edwards.
This is not the first time that Thompson has called for a fight with Edwards. After being sidelined for over a year Edwards was looking for an opponent, however, he was only willing to face up the rankings, looking towards the top three guys to position himself as the next title contender.
Thompson at the time was ranked #6 and with a win over Geoff Neal positioned himself solidly in the top five and outside of the three fighters ahead of Thompson, the perfect fight for both athletes to take right now.
There are three other fighters in the top five that could be potential candidates for Edwards and those are Tyron Woodley, who Edwards was scheduled to face previously in March of 2020. Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal who have been heavily rumored to face one another later this year.
Currently, it isn’t clear if either the UFC or Edwards are interested in the fight, however, from the interview with White it appears that the plan is for Edwards to remain on the March 13 card and fill out the main event against another top welterweight.