Dana White: Neil Magny, Michael Chiesa deserve UFC on ESPN 20 main event spot

ABU DHABI – Neil Magny and Michael Chiesa weren’t in the initial plans to headline UFC on ESPN 20, but promotion president Dana White still thinks they deserve it.

Originally scheduled to be atop the card was a different welterweight fight, one between Leon Edwards and Khamzat Chimaev. The fight was postponed when Chimaev couldn’t shake COVID-19 symptoms. Magny and Chiesa, who were supposed to square off on the undercard, was then elevated to the main event.

“Magny, in my opinion, never gets the credit that he deserves,” White told MMA Junkie on Wednesday. “This guy has fought everybody. He’s willing to fight anybody, anywhere, anytime. You have to love guys like that. I’m actually happy for him to be getting a main event slot.

“Chiesa is a stud and has been around for a long time, too. This is a much-deserved fight. (It was) not the one we had planned to be there, but (it’s) great for both of these guys.”

UFC on ESPN 20 takes place Wednesday at Etihad Arena on “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi. The main card airs on ESPN after prelims on ESPN/ESPN+.

Check out MMA Junkie’s full exclusive interview with Dana White in the video below: