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Whittaker and Chimaev were originally scheduled to fight in the main event at UFC on ABC 6 this past June before “Borz” pulled out due to a severe illness. Whittaker went on score a first-round knockout over Ikram Aliskerov, who replaced Chimaev on short notice. The highly anticipated matchup between Whittaker and Chimaev was rescheduled for a five-round co-main event at UFC 308 on Oct. 26 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
However, the matchup was briefly cast into doubt by the promotion on Sunday. The UFC tweeted that Ciryl Gane vs. Alexander Volkov, the third bout from top order in the card, was bumped up to co-main event status. However, that tweet was soon deleted before the promotion reconfirmed Whittaker vs. Chimaev as the co-main event for UFC 308.
Whittaker is currently riding a two-fight winning streak that saw him rebound from a technical knockout loss against current champ Dricus Du Plessis. Meanwhile, Chimaev hasn’t fought since a majority decision win over Kamaru Usman at UFC 291 in October 2023 that saw him permanently move up to middleweight. UFC 308 will be headlined by a blockbuster featherweight title fight between champ Ilia Topuria and former champ Max Holloway.
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