UFC 258 is down one fight on the main card, as the bantamweight scrap between Jimmie Rivera and Pedro Munhoz has been postponed due to a positive COVID test.
MMA Fighting has broken the news that Pedro Munhoz will have a fight postponed for the second time during the COVID era of the UFC, with his fight against Jimmie Rivera being pulled from the UFC 258 pay per view. Munhoz had his fight with Frankie Edgar postponed in the summer of 2020 after contracting COVID, so perhaps the positive test that canceled this bout belongs to Rivera unless Munhoz has come down with the virus for a second time. The UFC is now talking about moving the fight to the February 27 Fight Night card that will be headlined by Jairzinho Rozenstruik taking on Ciryl Gane.
The tension between Pedro Munhoz and Jimmie Rivera to have this rematch may vary widely between these two fighters since they have already competed against one another. For Rivera, he may be patiently waiting for the date of the 27th to be confirmed since he won their initial encounter via split decision while Munhoz may be chomping at the bit to get redemption and also get back in the win column. In Rivera’s case, he is already at peace with both their initial bout and his most recent performance, which resulted in a victory over Cody Stamann last July.
Based on the UFC’s official website, the promotion has shuffled the lineup for the event. Here is the updated layout for the UFC 258 card:
UFC 258 MAIN CARD:
UFC Welterweight Championship Bout: Kamaru Usman © vs. Gilbert Burns
Maycee Barber vs. Alexa Grasso
Kelvin Gastelum vs. Ian Heinisch
Andre Ewell vs. Chris Gutierrez
Maki Pitolo vs. Julian Marquez
UFC 258 PRELIMINARY CARD:
Jim Miller vs. Bobby Green
Rodolfo Vieira vs. Anthony Hernandez
Belal Muhammad vs. Dhiego Lima
Polyana Viana vs. Mallory Martin
UFC 258 EARLY PRELIMINARY CARD:
Ricky Simon vs. Brian Kelleher
Gabriel Green vs. Philip Rowe
Gillian Robertson vs. Miranda Maverick
Be sure to visit MMANews.com on Saturday night for live updates and highlights of the UFC 258 pay per view!
