Saturday night’s UFC card has received a short-notice change, as the matchup between Ion Cutelaba and Magomed Ankalaev has been removed from the card. Per a statement by the UFC, the matchup was taken off of the card following a positive COVID-19 test from a party involved.
The light heavyweight rematch has now been taken off of numerous cards, as the promotion has tried to book it since their return at UFC 249. The last attempt to book the show was on August 15th, with that occasion being cancelled after Cutelaba tested positive for COVID-19.
Their first meeting was a controversial one, as the referee stopped the fight in the first minute after thinking Cutelaba’s wobbliness on the feet justified ending the match. Cutelaba was quick to protest the stoppage, arguing that he was not actually hurt and was going to continue.
Due to the dispute levied by Cutelaba in February, the rematch was quick to be set up by the UFC.
Losing a main card bout, Saturday night’s UFC “Fight Night” will have 10 bouts in total. Set to headline the show is light heavyweights Alexsandar Rakic and Anthony Smith. Here’s the full card.
Main Card (9:00PM EDT / 6:00PM PDT) (ESPN+ / UFC Fight Pass Canada)
Bout 10: Anthony Smith (33-15) vs. Aleksandar Rakic (12-2) (Light Heavyweight)
Bout 9: Robbie Lawler (28-14) vs. Neil Magny (23-7) (Welterweight)
Bout 8: Ji Yeon Kim (9-2-2) vs. Alexa Grasso (11-3) (Flyweight)
Bout 7: Ricardo Lamas (19-8) vs. Bill Algeo (13-4) (Featherweigth)
Preliminary Card (6:00PM EDT / 3:00PM PDT) (ESPN / UFC Fight Pass Canada)
Bout 6: Maki Pitolo (13-6) vs. Impa Kasanganay (7-0) (Middleweight)
Bout 5: Zak Cummings (23-7) vs. Alessio Di Chirico (12-4) (Middleweight)
Bout 4: Alex Caceres (16-12) vs. Austin Springer (12-3) (Featherweight)
Bout 3: Sean Bready (12-0) vs. Christian Aguilera (14-6) (Welterweight)
Bout 2: Emily Whitmire (4-3) vs. Polyana Viana (10-4) (Strawweight)
Bout 1: Mallory Martin (6-3) vs. Hannah Cifers (10-6) (Strawweight)
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