It hasn’t been a good day for Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Shortly after Angela Hill was forced out of her fight against Tecia Torres — which was set to go down on Sat. (Dec. 12, 2020) at UFC 256 — after testing positive for COVID-19, Karl Roberson announced he had tested positive, as well, forcing the promotion to reschedule his UFC 256 fight against Dalcha Lungiambula until Dec. 19.
If that weren’t enough, UFC 256 has lost a third fight of the day as a result of coronavirus, as Dwight Grant revealed on Instagram that he was forced out of his fight against Li Jingliang after he tested positive.
“Hey what’s up everyone? I gotta give y’all some bad news, I’m not going to be fighting this weekend. My last Covid 19 test came back positive but Luckily the symptoms haven’t been severe. This news hit especially hard because of all the hard work and excitement I have for this fight. It’s out of my control so I’m not going to try not to dwell on it too much, but to call it disappointing is an understatement,” he wrote.
“So now I’m focusing all my energy on getting better. I’m going to quarantine and by the grace of God, be able to fight again soon. Thank you everyone for all your support. Ill be back even more determined and fired up to go.”
When it rains it pours.
Grant was looking to get back on track after losing Daniel Rodriguez this past August, while Jingliang was also looking for a big win after having his three-fight win streak snapped by Neil Magny this past March.
UFC 256 features a Flyweight title fight as division king, Deiveson Figueiredo, will defend his title against Brandon Moreno, while Tony Ferguson battles Charles Oliveira in what could prove to be a title eliminator fight.
To see the rest of the UFC 256 fight card and lineup click here. For the latest news and notes for this weekend’s “Figueiredo vs. Moreno” PPV event click here.