Undefeated Moldovan heavyweight Alexander Romanov was expected to take on Marcin Tybura at UFC 251, but withdrew from the card earlier this month. Initially, the cause for his exit was not clear, however, his gym has now revealed he tested positive for COVID-19.
“Dear friends, we were all looking forward to Alexander Romanov’s debut in UFC, which was to take place this Saturday, July 11, 2020,” an Instagram post from Romanov’s gym read on Instagram (h/t MMA Junkie). “Unfortunately, he and his team tested POSITIVE for Covid-19 on the 1st of July 2020 and even if the repeated test, done on the 3rd of July 2020 came back NEGATIVE, indicating only the presence of antibodies in one of the coaches’ system, Alexander Romanov has already been removed from the fight card, just as other four other foreign fighters who were going to fight Saturday at UFC 251. Alexander feels great, he trains in isolation and looks forward to his next fight in UFC. We wish him success and good health!”
Romanov, a veteran of Moldova’s Eagles Fighting Championship, has been replaced by Professional Fighters League veteran Maxim Grishin. Grishin will be making his UFC debut.
Aiemann Zahabi has his own vested interests in why he is leaning more on the “and still” side than “and new” in Saturday’s pay-per-view title challenge at bantamweight. Merab Dvalishvili aims to defend his 135-pound crown and defeat Petr Yan for a second time when the two battle in a rematch at UFC 323.
