In the old days, whatever lineup you had entering fight week was usually the same card by the first bell on Saturday night, unless someone botched their weight cut or sliced themselves open in final rounds of sparring.
These days, it seems like coronavirus makes every fight week card a roll of the dice. Maybe everyone shows up in one piece, maybe not. Case in point: we’re just a few days out from UFC Vegas 18 and Andre Ewell is being removed from the lineup.
That’s according to MMA DNA.
Ewell was a short-notice replacement for Merab Dvalishvili, who was unable to keep his commitment due to complications from COVID-19. Now, Cody Stamann will move on to battle promotional newcomer Askar Askar (11-1), fresh off his unanimous decision victory over Kevin Wirth at LFA 92 last October.
As for Stamman (19-3-1), he’s looking to rebound from his unanimous decision loss to Jimmie Rivera at UFC on ESPN 13 last July. “The Spartan” is 5-2-1 under the UFC banner and sits just outside the Top 10 at No. 13.
To see the revised UFC Vegas 18 fight card and lineup click here.
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