The long-awaited showdown between Jorge Masvidal and Leon Edwards will have to wait until another day.
Masvidal has suffered an undisclosed injury that has forced him out of the fight against Edwards, which was originally scheduled for UFC 269 on Dec. 11 in Las Vegas.
Multiple sources confirmed the news to MMA Fighting on Wednesday following an initial announcement by UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell in a statement to ESPN.
It’s unfortunate news after Masvidal and Edwards appeared to be headed on a collision course after they first crossed paths over two years ago following a UFC event in London.
On that night, Masvidal was doing a post-fight interview following a win over Darren Till and he ended up exchanging words with Edwards as he walked by the backstage area. Masvidal ended up throwing punches at Edwards after the heated exchanged turned physical but the actual fight between them wasn’t booked until now.
Additional sources confirmed that Edwards is not expected to stay on the card against a new opponent after he initially accepted the Masvidal fight to settle their longstanding grudge after he had previously been calling for a title fight against reigning champion Kamaru Usman.
With Masvidal sidelined, Edwards is seeking a title shot now that Usman is available following his unanimous decision win over Colby Covington at UFC 268.
As for UFC 269, the card still features two title fights at the top of the show as Charles Oliveira takes on Dustin Poirier with the lightweight title up for grabs while Amanda Nunes will defend her bantamweight title against Julianna Pena.
