Glover Teixeira has been forced to pull out of his UFC Fight Night 177 headliner against Thiago Santos next weekend after testing positive for Covid-19.
As things stand the UFC have opted to push back the fight until a month later on October 3rd instead, which suggests that Teixeira hasn’t been too badly effected by the virus. It’s not clear whether Teixeira vs. Santos will headline that show though, with Holly Holm vs. Irene Aldana currently slated to take on main event duties there.
As for UFC Fight Night 177, there aren’t many fights on the card as it stands that have the potential to be bumped up to serve as the headliner, though perhaps Michelle Waterson vs. Angela Hill could do so.
The original main event had been a meaningful fight, with former 205lb title contender Teixeira having compiled a four-fight winning streak of late, including a TKO finish of Anthony Smith last time out, that’s taken him back up to No.4 in the rankings.
Meanwhile, Santos was coming off an unsuccessful attempt to take the title from Jones in July, though the fact that he took him to a split decision verdict means he’s eager to get back into the hunt for the belt as soon as possible, and as the No.2 ranked contender he was in a strong position to do so.
