Ion Cutelaba has been forced out of his highly-anticipated rematch against Magomed Ankalaev — which was set to go down this weekend (Sat., Aug. 15, 2020) at UFC 252 in Las Vegas, Nevada — after testing positive for COVID-19.
That’s according to Igor Lazorin, who also revealed that the bout will now take place on Aug. 29, 2020, also in “Sin City.”
The duo’s first meeting — which went down at UFC Fight Night 169 on Feb. 29 — ended in confusing controversy after Cutelaba’s rope-a-dope strategy worked too well, convincing the referee that he was actually hurt, ultimately forcing him to put an end to the fight (see it here).
The two were set to rematch at the UFC 249 pay-per-view (PPV) event on April 18, 2020, in Brooklyn, N.Y., but after that event was scratched — also due to COVID-19 — the rematch was eventually booked to go down this upcoming Saturday night.
Now we simply have to wait seven extra days to finally get some closure.
The Aug. 29 event will feature a Light Heavyweight bout between Anthony Smith and Aleksandar Rakic, as well as what is sure-to-be a thrilling Welterweight fight between Robbie Lawler and Neil Magny. UFC 252, meanwhile, will see Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier tango one final time for the Heavyweight title.
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