A week out from UFC 260 the card has suffered a major blow with the news that featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski has tested positive for Covid-19.
As a result, Volkanovski’s latest title defense against Brian Ortega, which was to serve as the evening’s main event, has had to be cancelled.
Rather than seeking to find an alternative opponent for Ortega on short-notice the UFC have opted to pull him from the card entirely, hoping that the the title fight can instead be rescheduled at a later date.
Coincidentally, Volkanovski’s striking coach is Brad Riddell, who was also pulled from his co-main event against Gregor Gillespie just hours before UFC On ESPN 21 began last night.
With Volkanovski vs. Ortega now ruled out, UFC 260 has to regroup, but does still have a major heavyweight title rematch between Stipe Miocic and Francis Ngannou topping the bill, while other notable bouts on the main card line-up including Tyron Woodley vs. Vicente Luque and Sean O’Malley vs. Thomas Almeida.
