Paulo Costa Out of UFC 294, Kamaru Usman in against Khamzat Chimaev

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The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s marquee card in Abu Dhabi has suffered its second major change in the past 24 hours.

After the scheduled main event of UFC 294 fell through on Wednesday when Charles Oliveira withdrew from his scheduled rematch with lightweight champ Islam Makhachev, the co-main event has also undergone a change with Paulo Costa (14-2) not being cleared to compete due to a staph infection on his elbow. In place of “Borrachinha,” former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman (20-3) will step up on 10 days' notice for his middleweight debut against Khamzat Chimaev. UFC CEO Dana White made the official announcement on Instagram.

Usman has not competed since UFC 286 in March, when came up short in a bid to win his title back from Leon Edwards. Prior to the back-to-back losses to Edwards, Usman had enjoyed a 15-fight win streak in the promotion including a long reign atop the welterweight division. Meanwhile, the upcoming bout will mark Chimaev’s official move back to 185 pounds after “Borz” missed the welterweight limit by 7.5 pounds for a scheduled clash against Nate Diaz last September leading to a reshuffling of the entire card.

Following the UFC’s announcement regarding Costa’s withdrawal and replacement, The Brazilian revealed that he’ll have to undergo another procedure for staph infection while thanking the Las Vegas-based promotion for doing everything in their power to get him in fighting shape. “Borrachinha” wrote on Instagram:

“Unfortunately, I had to do a new surgical procedure and I’m hospitalized, I will need another surgery on Friday. On September 18th I had my first surgery to remove the bursa and clean the infection [staph], with the full support of the UFC here in Abu Dhabi. Even after the surgery, we did everything possible and impossible so that I could stay in the fight. However, this week the infection returned, and I needed a surgical procedure again. I'm sorry for the fans, I know this fight was highly anticipated, and I'm sorry for my team and for myself, as I'm the most interested in fighting, after all, it takes months of training and money invested to be here. I would really like to thank those who support me and especially the UFC, for all the support given to me from the first surgery until now. They put me in the best hospital with the best doctors, daily monitoring by doctors here and Doctor D [UFC doctor] I hope to be back soon and that this fight can be held in the near future.”

UFC 294 takes place on Oct. 21 at Etihad Arena on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The 13-fight card is scheduled to be headlined by a lightweight title rematch between Makhachev and featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski, with the new Usman-Chimaev middleweight bout as the co-main event. The main card will be broadcast on pay-per-view through ESPN+ in the United States, while the prelims stream on ESPN+ and UFC Fight Pass.