Reigning featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski’s title fight against Brian Ortega has been pulled from UFC 260, which was slated on March 27, the announcement of which was made at the UFC Vegas 22 on Saturday.
Volkanovski tested positive for the virus after twice testing negative and pulled out from the card due to Covid-19 protocols. The bout was scrapped and can be rescheduled on a later date.
Brad Riddell, Volkanovski’s teammate and training partner, was also pulled from UFC Vegas 22.
The fight against Ortega was supposed to be Volkanovski’s second title defense, after he defeated Max Holloway to win the featherweight title and then defeated him again in a rematch.
Ortega had earned the title shot after beating “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung.
UFC has not made any announced regarding the rescheduling the fight as UFC 260 go ahead with the same main event, with heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic taking on Francis Ngannou in a five-round battle from the UFC APEX in Las Vegas.