DANA WHITE has hit back at suggestions of the main event for the UFC’s debut event in Saudi Arabia being leaked.
On Wednesday night, a website purporting to be an official ticket seller for the Kingdom Arena advertised a tantalising middleweight fight between former champion Israel Adesanya and Khamzat Chimaev.
Israel Adesanya vs Khamzat Chimaev was being advertised as the main event for the UFC’s debut event in Saudi
INSTAGRAM@DANAWHITEUFC president Dana White has rubbished claim of the fight being in the works[/caption]
MMA fans around the world went into meltdown after seeing the rumoured match-up, which was slated for June 29.
But their hopes of seeing the two titans of the division collide in a Riyadh rumble were quickly, and emphatically, shot down by White.
The UFC supremo took to his Instagram story to say: “Not happening. It was a fake post.
“All the MMA Media that ran with it are the problem. Absolute CLOWNS.
“If you hear it from the MMA media and not us, it’s probably BULLS**T.”
Former two-time middleweight champion Adesanya hasn’t fought since losing the belt to Sean Strickland last September.
The Last Stylebender planned on taking an extended break from fighting but was willing to prematurely end his hiatus to face Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 300.
His head coach Eugene Bareman told The MacLife: “I can say that we are ready to fight. Israel is ready to fight.
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“He is in camp, has been in camp, and we answered that call, and we assessed it because Israel is coming off an injury.
“And we decided as a team that, yeah, let’s get into camp.
“There is a strong possibility that this fight could happen on this date and let’s act as if we are fighting on that date.
“So we are ready to go.”
Chimaev, meanwhile, hasn’t set foot inside the octagon since his 185lbs debut against former welterweight king Kamaru Usman at UFC 294 last October.
The Russian wrecking machine was in contention to fight at UFC 300 against 170lbs champ Leon Edwards.
Edwards accepted the promotion’s offer of a showdown with the Chechen clubber, although the fight ended up not coming to fruition.
EPAIsrael Adesanya was willing to end his hiatus to headline UFC 300[/caption]