Neil Magny open to fighting Khamzat Chimaev on short notice

Veteran UFC welterweight Neil Magny says he’s open to fighting top prospect Khamzat Chimaev on short notice later this month at UFC Vegas 17.

Chimaev was set to face off against No. 3 ranked Leon Edwards in the biggest fight of his career on December 19 in Las Vegas. The fight was scheduled for five rounds and was set to be the main event. Unfortunately, disaster struck. After reports emerged that Chimaev had contracted COVID-19 and the fight was up in the air, it turned out that Edwards is actually the one who has COVID-19, and of course, the fight has been postponed until sometime in 2021 when Edwards recovers from the illness.

That leaves Chimaev in a tough spot. The No. 15 ranked welterweight waited for a top-five opponent to become available and once Edwards stepped up, fans were touting this as potentially a “Fight of the Year” candidate to end 2020. With Edwards out of action, Chimaev is now in limbo, and with Anthony Pettis vs. Alex Morono added to the card, it looks like UFC Vegas 17 is completely booked up with 15 bouts. But if Chimaev is eager to fight, the No. 9 ranked Magny says he’s open to fighting Chimaev on short notice.

Check out what Magny shared on his social media after the news that Edwards was out.

I’m ready to scrap @ufc

With Geoff Neal vs. Stephen Thompson now the five-round main event, it’s doubtful that Magny would get the opportunity to fight Chimaev for five rounds now. However, there’s still an outside chance that Magny could still fight Chimaev. Although it’s still far more likely that the Swede will wait for Edwards to recover from COVID-19 and fight him hopefully in early 2021, if Chimaev is really eager to fight, then Magny is his man.

Would you like to see Neil Magny fight Khamzat Chimaev at UFC Vegas 17?