UFC president Dana White confirmed on Thursday that the winner of UFC 294's co-main event, Khamzat Chimaev vs. Kamaru Usman, will get a middleweight title shot.
"That is an absolute fact," he said on The Pat McAfee Show (1:47:00 mark). "The fact that these guys are taking this fight on short notice, (the winner) will get the next shot at the title barring injuries and other things that can possibly happen."
Sean Strickland is the current champion after beating Israel Adesanya by unanimous decision at UFC 293 in September.
Usman, 36, won the UFC welterweight title back in 2019 at UFC 235 against Tyron Woodley and defended it five times before losing to to Leon Edwards at UFC 278 in 2022. He took on Edwards again at UFC 286 in March and lost again.
In total, he's 20-3 in his professional MMA career.
Adam Catterall @AdamCatterallThere are fighters who have said no to Khamzat Chimaev on a full camp let alone up a weight at 10 days notice.<br><br>Kamaru Usman is a real one. <a href="">#UFC294</a>
Chimaev, 29, is one of the up-and-coming stars in the sport, with a 12-0 career record in professional MMA. He last fought in Sept. 2022 at UFC 279, defeating Kevin Holland by submission. He has finished six of his seven fights via stoppages.
He has already fought twice at middleweight, so his adjustment to that weight class should be fairly seamless.
Usman was a stand-in for Paulo Costa, Chimaev's original opponent. The UFC replaced him with Usman after Costa had elbow surgery three weeks ago. Costa had intended to remain in the fight.
"I will not pull out of this fight," he texted ESPN's Brett Okamoto on Oct. 9. "I can beat him 99 out of 100 times. Only if the doctor doesn't allow me. I want that fight."
Ariel Helwani @arielhelwaniIn the last 20 hours in MMA:<br><br>Volkanovski replaces Oliveira.<br><br>Usman replaces Costa.<br><br>USADA and UFC are no more.<br><br>I'm probably missing a couple things, too. <br><br>🤯
The other main event will see UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev put his belt on the line against Alexander Volkanovski, the current featherweight champion. Charles Oliveira was originally slated to face Makhachev but suffered a cut in training, taking him out of the running.
