UFC welterweight Leon Edwards has announced that he is out of the main event next Saturday as the location change to UFC London will prevent him from being able to travel to compete against Tyron Woodley.
UFC welterweight Leon “Rocky” Edwards announced via a post on Instagram that he will not be able to fight Tyron Woodley next Saturday due to the relocation of UFC London. Edwards posted a lengthy message stating:
Last night I went to sleep still with some hope that UFC London would continue next week. I woke up this morning to the news that it won’t be. We have been working with the UFC on possible solutions to keep the fight alive, but unfortunately with such a short window of time, nothing was viable. Myself and my team are all fathers, husbands, sons and brothers, and not all of us can leave our families right now. I wish we could have found a way for the fans, I truly do.
I have been dreaming of headlining a UFC show in my home country since I started this sport. This cancellation is truly heartbreaking. I have never worked harder and never been more prepared for the biggest moment in my career. But I know that the whole world is hurting right now and this is bigger than me, this is bigger than sports. All I can hope for is that all of you stay safe and look after each other as we get past this and move forward.
I am humbled by the thousands of messages of support I have received in the hours since the announcement, I truly appreciate you all and feel a lot of love right now. I look forward to this event being rebooked when it is safe to do so, so Tyron and I can put on the show that you all deserve.
Please take care, we will all get through is.
-Rocky
Late Saturday night, UFC President Dana White announced that the previously scheduled card in London would be relocated, likely to the United States, amid new travel bans in-and-out of the country as concerns over the coronavirus continue to grow worldwide. The news was announced early morning, roughly 4:30am London time, with several fighters having reportedly already boarded flights to the UK. On Thursday, White had said that the event in London would go on as previously scheduled with fans, which was still the plan as of Saturday afternoon.
MMAFighting.com has confirmed at least five other bouts scheduled for next Saturday’s event are officially off with fighters confirming the news via social media. Early Sunday morning, the UFC sent out a message to managers and representatives about looking for fighters to fill in the now open spots on the card.
This is an email they are sending out to managers and reps about this new card next week. As you can see, they are even open to signing fighters who currently aren’t on the roster to fill it up, as well. pic.twitter.com/qYcYCDvdyo
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) March 15, 2020
Per Ariel Helwani, Tyron Woodley’s status on the card remains to be determined as a new venue has yet to be finalized as well as a potential replacement opponent.
