Junior dos Santos will not take on Alexander Volkov in the main event of UFC Moscow after all. The Brazilian has a bacterial infection and was forced to withdraw.
RT Sport was first to report the news that dos Santos had to pull out of the event. MMA Fighting additionally reported that the Brazilian had “a bacterial infection in his leg and has been in a hospital for over a week. dos Santos underwent two procedures – one to introduce a drain and then another to remove it.”
dos Santos is coming off of a first-round knockout loss to Francis Ngannou in the main event of UFC Minneapolis. The loss snapped his three-fight winning streak with wins over Blagoy Ivanov, Tai Tuivasa, and Derrick Lewis.
Alexander Volkov, meanwhile, is coming off of his first UFC loss where he was knocked out to Derrick Lewis at UFC 229. Before that, he was 4-0 inside the Octagon with wins over Tim Johnson, Roy Nelson, Stefan Struve, and Fabricio Werdum. The Russian is also the former Bellator heavyweight champion.
Currently, it is unknown if Volkov will stay on the card and if the UFC will search for a replacement. Or, if they will just promote Zabit Magomedsharipov vs. Calvin Kattar as the main event.
