The battle of two undefeated featherweights Movsar Evloev and Ilia Topuria has been canceled after Evloev was forced to withdraw from the bout due to a positive COVID-19 test.
Soon after news of Evloev’s withdrawal became known, Topuria was immediately hot on the trail in pursuit of a replacement.
“Bad news! @MovsarUFC is out. We already knew that this was gonna happen. @Dynamitedan808, are you up for a fight? Let me know ASAP and if you are down, hope to see you January 22. Let’s go!”
Dan Ige is currently ranked #9 in the division while Topuria is unranked, so the callout certainly makes sense for Topuria, who is coming off a vicious KO win over Ryan Hall at UFC 264.
The 24-year-old was ranked 15th at featherweight not too long ago and is 3-0 in the UFC. He made his debut on short notice back on Fight Island in October of 2020 as he beat Youssef Zalal by decision. In his next fight, he scored another highlight-reel vicious KO over Damon Jackson last December.
Movsar Evloev (15-0) last fought back at UFC 263 as he beat Hakeem Dawdou by decision it was his fifth fight inside the Octagon. The 27-year-old gas beat Nik Lentz by split decision, Mike Grundy, Enrique Barzola, and Seung Woo Choi, all by decision in the UFC. He’s currently the 13th-ranked featherweight and is the former M-1 bantamweight champion.
There is no word on if Topuria will remain on the card as he wishes or if this fight will be rescheduled.
With this cancellation the updated UFC 270 lineup is as follows:
- UFC Heavyweight Championship Bout: Francis Ngannou (c) vs. Ciryl Gane
- UFC Flyweight Championship Bout: Brandon Moreno (c) vs. Deiveson Figueiredo
- Derek Brunson vs. Jared Cannonier
- Greg Hardy vs. Aleksi Oleinik
- Wellington Turman vs. Rodolfo Vieira
- Michel Pereira vs. Andre Fialho
- Poliana Botelho vs. Ji Yeon Kim
- Said Nurmagomedov vs. Cody Stamann
- Trevin Giles vs. Michael Morales
- Matt Frevola vs. Genaro Valdez
- Raoni Barcelos vs. Victor Henry
- Kay Hansen vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius
- Tony Gravely vs. Saimon Oliveira
