Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
One of Heinisch’s cornermen tested positive for COVID-19, but apparently it was a false positive.
What a turn of events.
Thursday afternoon saw the removal of middleweight Ian Heinisch from this Saturday’s UFC 250 bout against Gerald Meerschaert. TSN’s Aaron Broensteter reported that one of Heinisch’s cornermen had a positive test for COVID-19, so as a precaution Heinisch was off the card.
Fast forward to Thursday evening, and Heinisch is back in business.
MMA Fighting says that another test was conducted on the person, evidently it came back negative, and since they’ve been cleared, Heinisch vs. Meerschaert is once again on tap for the night’s preliminary card.
The UFC did have a backup opponent for Meerschaert, as Anthony Ivy was set to step in on short notice, but unless we get another twist in this tale he’ll have to wait a little longer for his debut. MMA Fighting said that he will remain on the UFC roster and get scheduled against another opponent at a later date.
It’s worth noting that this looks to be the third inconclusive and/or false positive test for a UFC show since the promotion returned to action on May 9th. Claudia Gadelha and Dan Ige had their own scares for the May 16th show in Jacksonville, with Gadelha herself getting an “inconclusive” result while Ige’s brother-in-law/cornerman had a false positive. Both were able to compete in their respective bouts that weekend.