Raphael Assuncao is out of his UFC Vegas 20 fight against Raoni Barcelos due to COVID-19.
MMAJunkie was first to report the news of Assuncao’s withdrawal and the UFC hoping to find a short notice replacement for Barcelos. The Brazilian also confirmed he is out of the fight on social media.
Raphael Assuncao is coming off a KO loss to Cody Garbrandt at UFC 250 and is currently on a three-fight skid. During his losing streak, he dropped a decision to Cory Sandhagen and a submission loss to Marlon Moraes. He does hold notable wins over Moraes, Rob Font, and Aljamain Sterling.
Raoni Barcelos, meanwhile, is on a nine-fight winning streak including being 5-0 in the UFC with wins over Said Nurmagomedov, Chris Gutierrez, and Khalid Taha among others.
Whether or not the UFC will find a replacement for Barcelos is uncertain. However, the hope for many is the Brazilian does end up fighting as many consider him a darkhorse at bantamweight.
UFC Vegas 20 is now as follows:
- Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Ciryl Gane
- Raoni Barcelos vs. TBA
- William Knight vs. Alonzo Menifield
- Alexis Davis vs. Sabina Mazo
- Randy Brown vs. Alex Oliveira
- Hannah Cifers vs. Emily Whitmire
- Alex Caceres vs. Kevin Croom
- Magomed Ankalaev vs. Nikita Krylov
- Montana De La Rosa vs. Mayra Bueno Silva
- Alexander Hernandez vs. Thiago Moises
- Vince Cachero vs. Ronnie Lawrence
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