Leon Edwards releases statement after COVID-19 KOs him from UFC Vegas 17

The UFC’s final event of a pandemic plagued 2020 could not go unscathed by COVID-19. Leon Edwards and his UFC Vegas 17 headlining bout opposite Khamzat Chimaev became the latest casualties of a trying year.

Edwards contracted COVID-19, which negated his ability to train for the fight and resulted in him losing 12 pounds over four days. He was subsequently removed from the UFC Vegas 17 main event, which the fight promotion hopes to reschedule in early 2021, possibly as soon as January.

While readily identifying the fight’s postponement as a hit to him, Edwards was quick to acknowledge that things could have been much worse for him, and things are much worse for many other people.

“Another setback, but when you come from the mud you learn to put everything in perspective. This virus has affected many lives and families much worse than mine. Looking forward to getting this rebooked soon, thank you all for the well wishes.”

Leon Edwards on Twitter

Though UFC officials have yet to make it official, it is expected that a welterweight bout between Stephen Thompson and Geoff Neal would move into the headlining spot. The bout was already slated for the UFC Vegas 17 fight card.

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