Miles Johns and Anderson dos Santos won’t be fighting each other Saturday night after all.
Johns announced on Instagram that their UFC on ESPn 26 bout has been scrapped after someone in Dos Santos’ camp tested positive for COVID-19. The UFC has yet to make an official announcement as of this writing.
Here’s what Johns had to say in his post:
It’s with great regret that I have to inform you all that I will Not be fighting this evening. My opponent/camp tested positive for covid so the fight is off.
I want to wish him a speedy recovery, want to thank the UFC for the opportunity but mainly want apologize to everyone who was looking forward to watching me fight today.
I promise you there is nothing I would rather be doing than putting on a show for you all this evening. Thank you all for the love and support. It truly means the world to me. I hope to have some fight news for you soon but in the meantime we will stay focused and stay positive. Let’s keep moving forward!
Johns (11-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) was looking to fight for the first time since October 2020 when he knocked out Kevin Natividad to rebound from his first career loss in his fight prior.
Dos Santos (21-8 MMA, 1-2 UFC), meanwhile, also was aiming for a second consecutive win after submitting Martin Day in November 2020.
With the change, UFC on ESPN 26 will proceed with the following 10 bouts:
- Islam Makhachev vs. Thiago Moises
- Marion Reneau vs. Miesha Tate
- Mateusz Gamrot vs. Jeremy Stephens
- Dustin Stoltzfus vs. Rodolfo Vieira
- Gabriel Benitez vs. Billy Quarantillo
- Preston Parsons vs. Daniel Rodriguez
- Amanda Lemos vs. Montserrat Ruiz
- Sergey Morozov vs. Khalid Taha
- Francisco Figueredo vs. Malcolm Gordon
- Alan Baudot vs. Rodrigo Nascimento
