The UFC has lost one of its championship fights for next weekend’s UFC 265 pay-per-view card in Houston after it was revealed Amanda Nunes has tested positive for COVID-19.
Ariel Helwani was the first to report that Nunes was forced to withdraw from the August 7th defense of her bantamweight championship against Julianna Pena.
In a statement to ESPN’s Mike Coppinger, UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell stated that the champion tested positive for COVID-19 with the plan to re-schedule the fight once Nunes is healthy.
Nunes, 33, is the current 145 and 135-pound women’s champion and last competed in March submitting Megan Anderson at UFC 259. Next weekend’s fight would have been Nunes’ first defense of the bantamweight title since December 2019 with her two most recent fights occurring at featherweight.
The UFC 265 pay-per-view from the Toyota Center will still feature the interim heavyweight title fight between Derrick Lewis and Ciryl Gane in the headlining spot. The main card includes a bantamweight fight between Jose Aldo and Pedro Munhoz, a welterweight fight between Michael Chiesa and Vicente Luque, and a bantamweight fight involving Song Yadong and Casey Kenney.
