Tomorrow’s main event between Curtis Blaydes and Derrick Lewis has been cancelled due to a positive COVID-19 test for Blaydes.
ESPN’s Ariel Helwani was first to report Friday that the UFC Vegas 15 main event between Curtis Blaydes and Derrick Lewis has been cancelled, due to a positive COVID-19 test for Blaydes. The news came minutes before fighters were set to officially weigh in. Per the report, the UFC is hoping to reschedule the fight in December.
Curtis Blaydes vs. Derrick Lewis — tomorrow night’s UFC main event — has been canceled, per multiple sources. Blaydes has tested positive for COVID.
The promotion is hoping to reschedule the fight in December, sources say, though that isn’t a done deal just yet.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) November 27, 2020
Curtis Blaydes was entering the bout on a four fight win-streak with victories over Junior dos Santos and Alexander Volkov. The bout had high stakes as many had Blaydes on the cusp of title contention with a victory. He said during media day this week that he did expect to wait for his shot at the belt, as opposed to facing another opponent in the interim.
Derrick Lewis is on a three fight win-streak and a victory over Blaydes would be his biggest since stopping Alexander Volkov in 2018. “The Black Beast” has stood out as one of the top contenders in the heavyweight division in the past year and a victory would have likely set up a title eliminator in 2021 against Alistair Overeem should “The Demolition Man” get past Alexander Volkov on February 06.
There are three cards remaining after Saturday for the UFC’s 2020 schedule. Depending on the severity of Blaydes’ situation, it is expected that the fight could fall on either the UFC 256 pay-per-view in two weeks or the December 19 Fight Night event the week after.
Tomorrow’s card is expected to move forward with the remaining previously scheduled ten bouts. Former title challenger and current ESPN analyst Anthony Smith is expected to take on rising contender Devin Clark in the new main event.
