Jairzinho Rozenstruik of Suriname poses on the scale during the UFC 252 weigh-in at UFC APEX on August 14, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Derrick Lewis vs Curtis Blaydes will not take place at UFC Fight Night after being cancelled
Covid-19 played a role in the latest UFC Fight Night show as Derrick Lewis vs Curtis Blaydes was cancelled just a day before the event.
The UFC confirmed that Blaydes had tested positive for Covid-19 and the fight would take place on another card in the future.
However, there were rumours going around that UFC Heavyweight Jairzinho Rozenstruik would replace Blaydes in the main event.
Rozenstruik last fought against Junior dos Santos and picked up an impressive win. The Surinamese star is ranked #3 in the Heavyweight division and would have saved the show’s main event but Ariel Helwani shut down the rumours.
The MMA journalist added that there was no truth to Rozenstruik taking up the fight and claimed that the Blaydes vs Lewis clash could take place in January.
Paul Felder had taken up the fight against Rafael dos Anjos at the last second when Islam Makhachev pulled out due to an injury.
Felder won a lot of fans for taking up the fight on short notice, and he joked that he was willing to go up several divisions and face Lewis.
There were a few others who also joked about taking up the fight but the UFC still had a plan. Anthony Smith vs Devin Clark was serving as the co-main event before Blaydes vs Lewis was cancelled.
However, this was made into the main event and it will be a five-round clash now. It will be interesting to see how this takes place as both stars would have trained for a three-round fight.
This isn’t the first card affected by Covid-19 and it won’t be the last. Credit must be given to the UFC for working fast and ensuring a main event does take place, and hopefully, it turns out to be a great card.
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