UFC San Antonio finally has a main event, according to a report from Kevin Iole. The July 20 card will now be topped by a five-round welterweight fight between former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos and streaking Brit Leon Edwards.
Main event for UFC on ESPN 4 in San Antonio finalized: It will be Rafael dos Anjos vs Leon Edwards, five rounds. UFC wanted Blachowicz-Rockhold to move there, but Rockhold is filming a Ralph Lauren Polo commercial that day which couldn’t be moved.
— Kevin Iole (@KevinI) June 13, 2019
“Main event for UFC on ESPN 4 in San Antonio finalized: It will be Rafael dos Anjos vs Leon Edwards, five rounds,” Iole wrote. “UFC wanted Blachowicz-Rockhold to move there, but Rockhold is filming a Ralph Lauren Polo commercial that day which couldn’t be moved.”
As Iole implies, the UFC was considering moving a light heavyweight bout between Luke Rockhold and Jan Blachowicz from the UFC 239 main card to the UFC San Antonio main event. Because Rockhold was busy with a commercial shoot on the day of UFC San Antonio, however, the promotion called up Rafael dos Anjos and Leon Edwards and evidently made it worth their whiles.
The promotion also briefly considered having a Valentina Shevchenko vs. Liz Carmouche title fight headline the card, per Ariel Helwani.
Rafael dos Anjos will enter this UFC San Antonio fight having recently submitted Kevin Lee in the main event of UFC Rochester. Prior to that win, he lost back-to-back decisions to current champion Kamaru Usman and top contender Colby Covington. He’s 29-11 overall.
Leon Edwards, on the other hand, last fought in the co-main event of UFC London, where he defeated Iceland’s Gunnar Nelson by decision. Prior to this victory, he bested current lightweight contender Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone by decision. These wins brought his current streak to 7-straight. He’s an impressive 17-3 and all.
UFC San Antonio will air on ESPN, with prelims on ESPN+.
What do you think of this new main event? Who do you think will come out on top when Rafael dos Anjos and Leon Edwards collide?
This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 6/13/2019.