Major UFC 294 Fight In Jeopardy?

Could UFC 294 still be cursed?

Author:
Fernando Quiles Jr.
Publish date:
Oct 18, 2023 7:53 PM EDT

UFC 294 has been hit with some massive changes, but a recent scare has fight fans knocking on wood.

The UFC's handling of its upcoming October 21 PPV event has been nothing short of fascinating. The promotion already had its plans set with a UFC lightweight title rematch between champion Islam Makhachev and Charles Oliveira. The co-main event was to feature a grudge match between Khamzat Chimaev and Paulo Costa.

Those plans went down the drain when Oliveira and Costa were forced to pull out of the Abu Dhabi card. Impressively, the UFC had stellar backup plans as Makhachev vs. Alex Volkanovski 2 and Chimaev vs. Kamaru Usman are now in place.

With that said, speculation looms that something may have gone awry again.

During an open workout session between Kamaru Usman and Justin Gaethje, nothing appeared out of the ordinary, for the most part. What has fight fans worried is what Usman told Gaethje at the end of the session. Some have speculated that Usman told his training partner that something popped.

Usman, a former UFC welterweight champion, took to his X account to put that theory on blast.

"This is why no one reads this sh***** a** blog," Usman wrote. "At what point while I was lightly drilling did you hear me say that to Justin. Stop with the clickbait you idiots."

Gaethje followed up on his X page, insisting that "The Nigerian Nightmare" did not tell him something popped.

"He said I’m good or something like that," Gaethje wrote. "I thought he hit his head on the mat. I asked him if he hit his head in this clip when we got up and he said no."

Whether Gaethje is telling the truth or he's trying to cover for Usman remains to be seen. MMA Knockout will keep you posted on the status of Kamaru Usman for UFC 294 if anything stems from the speculation.

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