UFC Contemplating Welterweight Interim Belt With Chimaev vs. Edwards

Summary

• UFC welterweight champ sidelined due to injury
• Rumours of potential interim championship
• Chimaev vs. Edwards likely to fight for the belt

The UFC is usually making headlines each week with a Fight Night Card or its monthly pay per view championship fight card.

There are no UFC fights scheduled this weekend with the next Fight Night card featuring Volkov vs. Rozenstruik set to take place on June 4.

UFC welterweight champ Kamaru Usman last fought and defended his belt against Colby Covington on Nov 6, 2021. Usman won the fight by unanimous decision but has been out of action since then due to an injury.

Usman recently told the press that he needed to take more time off as his hand injury isn’t healing as fast as he would have liked and he did not want to take the risk of rushing back in and suffering a bigger injury. It looks likes the number one P4P fighter could be out of action for the next few months. Given that a fight camp usually takes 3 months, it is quite possible that Usman fights only in 2023.

There has been no official announcement from the UFC but rumours are floating around that the UFC is contemplating a welterweight interim championship as Usman recovers. Colby Covington is the number 1 ranked fighter in the division, but given the fact that his last fight was for the championship against Usman, it is unlikely that he will fight for the interim championship.

Brit Leon Edwards was scheduled to be next for Usman and is likely to get a shot at the interim championship. His likely opponent is going to be the UFC’s rising star Khamzat Chimaev who is coming off an impressive victory over Gilbert Burns. Khamzat is ranked number 3 and has already called out Edwards and tweeted a picture of the UFC belt.

Khamzat recently got married in his home country of Chechnya but is keen on getting back to the gym and preparing for his next fight in the UFC. If Khamzat does get the interim fight with Edwards and ends up winning, the championship fight between Usman and Khamzat could end up being one of the biggest fights in UFC history.

We expect UFC president Dana White to confirm or rubbish these rumours in the next few days.