Muslim Salikhov has been forced out of his upcoming fight with Santiago Ponzinibbio at UFC Fight Night 184 on January 16th due to his continued battle with Covid-19.
It’s become common to hear of UFC fighter’s pulling out of fights after testing positive for Covid, but the 36-year-old Salikhov’s case is different in that he actually caught the disease back in September.
At the time it forced him to pull out of an October bout against James Krause at UFC Fight Night 180, but worryingly, Salikhov appears to be suffering from what’s been dubbed as ‘Long Covid’ as he’s still suffering health-related issues relating to the disease several months later.
While the majority of fighter’s who have had Covid recovered quickly or been asymptomatic, Salikhov is not the first to have been left dealing with longer term issues as former bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt also revealed recently that he too had been having difficulties like ‘mental fog’, blood clots and vertigo a couple of months after his initial diagnosis.
Salikhov may not be as high-profile as Garbrandt, but he’s made an impact in the Octagon during his time in the UFC so far, having compiled a four-fight winning streak in the past couple of years, including a split decision win over Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos back in July.
