UFC 294 Fight Card Sees Major Changes Just 10 Days Before Event In Abu Dhabi

UFC 294 fight card was forced into major changes in the past 48 hours after the event's headliners - Charles Oliveira and Paulo Costa were forced to withdraw from their respective bouts.

While Oliveira, who was set to challenge Ismael Makachaev for the UFC Lightweight Championship in the main event, pulled out due to a nasty cut on his eye brow, Costa withdrew following surgery to his elbow.

Oliveira's withdrawal sees UFC Featherweight champion Alexandre Volkanovski step in as a late replacement to rematch Makachaev for the lightweight title, marking the first-time ever rematch between champions from different divisions for the same title.

The pair last met earlier this year in February at UFC 284 in Perth, Australia, where Makhachev overcame Volkanovski via unanimous decision in front of Australian's home crowd. Now, they are set to re-run the bout in Abu Dhabi on October 21.

Costa's withdrawal, on the other hand, sees former UFC Welterweight champion Kamaru Usman move up to middleweight to face Chimaev as a late replacement.

The UFC CEO Dana White made the announcements through his social media accounts via a video with the caption: "Are You Shitting Me? Can't wait to get to Abu Dhabi."

"You know what we've been dealing with this week. We just got the big fight done yesterday, the highly anticipated rematch in Abu Dhabi: Makhachev vs Volkanovski," White said, referencing an earlier announcement that Oliveira was injured and would be replaced by Volkanovski.

"Now you've been waiting for the co-main event. Costa's hurt...we got it done. The No. 4 welterweight in the world, Khamzat Chimaev, is moving up to middleweight and he will face the No. 1 welterweight in the world: Kamaru Usman."

UFC 294 is scheduled to take place on Saturday, October 21 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. This how the card looks now after the changes:

UFC 294 Fight Card

1. Lightweight Championship Bout: Islam Makhachev (c) vs. Alexander Volkanovski
2. Middleweight Bout: Kamaru Usman vs. Khamzat Chimaev
3. Light Heavyweight Bout: Magomed Ankalaev vs. Johnny Walker
4. Middleweight Bout: Ikram Aliskerov vs. Warlley Alves
5. Bantamweight Bout: Said Nurmagomedov vs. Muin Gafurov
6. Flyweight Bout: Tim Elliott vs. Muhammad Mokaev
7. Lightweight Bout: Mohammad Yahya vs. Trevor Peek
8. Bantamweight Bout: Javid Basharat vs. Victor Henry
9. Middleweight Bout: Abu Azaitar vs. Sedriques Dumas
10. Lightweight Bout: Mike Breeden vs. Anshul Jubli
11. Featherweight Bout: Nathaniel Wood vs. Muhammad Naimov
12. Women's Strawweight Bout: Victoria Dudakova vs. Jinh Yu Frey
13. Middleweight Bout: Sharabutdin Magomedov vs. Bruno Silva