UFC Fight Night main event off after Curtis Blaydes’ positive COVID-19 test
LAS VEGAS (UPI) — The main event bout between Curtis Blaydes and Derrick Lewis at UFC Fight Night — planned for Saturday — has been called off after Blaydes tested positive for COVID-19, the UFC said Friday.
The UFC also said a featherweight bout between Renato Moicano and Rafael Fiziev has been moved to Dec. 12. A flyweight bout between Amir Albazi and Zhalgas Zhumagulov also had to be rescheduled due to travel restrictions.
A featherweight bout between Jonathan Pearce and Kai Kamaka has been added to Saturday’s card.
Blaydes, 29, is 14-2-0. He has won his last four fights. He beat Alexander Volkov in his last bout on June 20 at UFC Fight Night. His last loss came after a first-round knockout from Francis Ngannou on Nov. 24, 2018.
Lewis, 35, has won his last three fights. He beat Aleksei Oleinik in two rounds on Aug. 8 at UFC Fight Night. Lewis lost a heavyweight title bout to Daniel Cormier on Nov. 3, 2018.
The main card for UFC Fight Night starts at 10 p.m. EST and airs on ESPN+. Featherweight Spike Carlyle takes on Bill Algeo in the first bout on the main card. Miguel Baeza then battles Takashi Sato in a welterweight bout.
Heavyweight Josh Parisian takes on Parker Porter in the third bout. The light heavyweight bout between Anthony Smith and Devin Clark, which was the co-main event, now moves into the feature fight slot.
The preliminary fight card features six bouts and starts at 7 p.m. EST on Friday in Las Vegas. That card airs on ESPN2 and ESPN+.
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