The final couple months like considered the UFC in what appears to be like to be a relentless bolt. As COVID instances but again surge all the scheme by scheme of the US, the promotion has been shedding headlining bouts take care of flies by scheme of the month of November. And even with unbiased a couple of occasions left sooner than the pause of the twelve months, December hasn’t been any less complicated.
The final card of 2020 – UFC Vegas 17, deliberate for December 19th at the Apex facility – had been at the muse slated to characteristic a welterweight bout between top-ranked title contender Leon Edwards and Chechen phenom Khamzat Chimaev. Unfortunately, after reports that both men had shrunk the coronavirus in the weeks leading to their bout, the struggle became once summarily scrapped—per chance to be rescheduled for in the future early in 2021.
In it’s residing, MMA Preventing reports that the tournament’s scheduled co-main contest between Stephen Thompson and Geoff Neal has been re-booked as a 5-round main tournament bout. ‘Wonderboy’ enters the struggle having been out of opponents for the entirety of the previous twelve months, having handled ongoing hand disorders. He final competed at UFC 244 help in November of 2019, defeating Vicente Luque by the utilization of unanimous option. That steal marked the Serra-Longo fighter’s first since defeating Jorge Masvidal help in 2017, breaking a two-loss traipse to Darren Till and Anthony Pettis.
For Neal, This struggle represents the Fortis MMA product’s first shot at the upper echelon of the welterweight division. ‘Handz of Steel’ has constructed an increasingly more rock solid recognition as a top-tier finisher in the UFC, having entered the promotion help in 2017 off a major round KO of Trail Waldon on season 1 of the Contender Sequence. Since then, Neal is 5-0 contained in the Octagon, with four of those victories coming by draw of stoppage. Most currently he TKO’d Mike Perry help on December 14th of 2019 in precisely 1: 30 of round 1. Unfortunately, Neal has missed your complete final twelve months in section because of the a wisely being fright leading as a lot as a deliberate August bout against Neil Magny, the put he suffered a excessive case of septic shock.
Alongside the main tournament, UFC Vegas 17 is predicted to characteristic a heavyweight bout between Marcin Tybura and Greg Hardy, to boot to bantamweight fights between aged title contender Marlon Moraes & Rob Font and between aged featherweight champion Jose Aldo & Marlon Vera. Discontinuance tuned to Bloody Elbow for more files and notes as struggle night approaches.
