Kamaru Usman, the former UFC welterweight champion, also known as the Nigerian Nightmare will return to the ring on October 21 to fight Khamzat Chimaev in Abu Dhabi.
Dana White, UFC president announced Wednesday on social media.
According to White, the UFC 294 main event will be Islam Makhachev putting his UFC lightweight title on the line against featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski.
The fight came together on Tuesday after Charles Oliveira, the former lightweight champ, sustained a cut in training and had to withdraw from the Makhachev fight.
He discloses that Chimaev was supposed to face Paulo Costa, but had elbow surgery three weeks ago and was not cleared.
Usman ranked No. 2 in the world at welterweight with Chimaev at No. 4. The bout will take place at middleweight, originally scheduled when Costa was the opponent.
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Costa on his part posted on social media that he did not want to withdraw from the bout.
Usman (20-3) has not fought since a title rematch loss to Leon Edwards at UFC 286 in March.
The Nigerian-born fighter who trains out of Florida and Colorado lost the belt to Edwards in August 2022.
Usman, 36, was on a 15-fight winning streak before the two defeats, the second-longest winning streak in UFC history.
Chimaev (12-0) is 6-0 in the UFC with five finishes. The Chechen-born fighter has fought at both middleweight and welterweight in the UFC.
Chimaev, 29, is considered one of UFC’s most fearsome up-and-coming fighters and a potential future champion in either weight class.
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