Kamaru Usman Expected to Face Demian Maia in Revamped UFC Chile Headliner
Fast-rising welterweight Kamaru Usman was originally slated to meet Argentinian Santiago Ponzinibbio in the headliner in Chile, but that fight fell apart over the weekend when Ponzinibbio had to withdraw because of a hand injury.
That was followed by the UFC Fight Night 129 co-main event between Volkan Oezdemir and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua being removed from the card and re-booked as the UFC Hamburg headliner in July. An ongoing legal issue made Oezdemir unable to compete at the May date.
Though that almost seemed to signal a death nell for UFC Fight Night 129, UFC officials have moved swiftly to find a new opponent for Usman. Following an initial report by MMAFighting, MMAWeekly.com’s Damon Martin confirmed with sources close to the situation that a verbal agreement is in place for Usman to meet Demian Maia in the revamped main event in Chile.
Usman is currently 12-1 overall including winning all seven of his UFC bouts since emerging from the cast of Season 21 of The Ultimate Fighter. Currently sitting at No. 7 in the UFC welterweight rankings, Maia represents a tremendous opportunity for Usman, as Maia sits at No. 5 in the promotion’s official ranks.
This article first appeared at News – MMAWeekly.com
