A fight has fallen off this weekend’s UFC card just hours before the first bell.
Luis Peña and Drakkar Klose were scheduled to meet in a lightweight bout Saturday in Las Vegas. But the bout has been pulled from the event due to COVID-19 protocols, the UFC confirmed with ESPN. Promotion officials said the bout would be postponed and would be contested at a later date.
Peña first announced the news himself on Twitter. He wrote that one of Klose’s corner people had tested positive for coronavirus and that the UFC had pulled the fight out of concern about the “health and safety [of] us both.”
Both Peña and Klose were trying to bounce back after a loss. Peña was actually stepping in on short notice after Klose’s original opponent, Jai Herbert, withdrew less than two weeks ago.
Curtis Blaydes and Derrick Lewis meet Saturday in the UFC Fight Night main event, a huge matchup in the heavyweight division. ESPN has Blaydes ranked No. 3 and Lewis ranked No. 5 in the world at heavyweight.