The middleweight bout has been bumped back a few days, apparently because of COVID.
As is becoming the norm on fight week, the first UFC card on ABC has lost another fight due to COVID. The promotion announced today that a main card middleweight fight between number 13-ranked Omari Akhmedov and Tom Breese has been removed from the event – but it will apparently take place just four days later, on the next card.
That seems a bit peculiar for a COVID diagnosis, and the announcement doesn’t say if either man actually tested positive.
Akhmedov (20-5-1, 8-4-1 UFC) has competed just once in 2020, dropping a decision to former middleweight champion Chris Weidman. Breese (12-2, 5-2 UFC) is coming off a TKO win over KB Bhullar in October. That quick victory earned him a performance bonus, the third of his brief UFC career.
UFC on ABC 1 goes down on Fight Island on January 16th, and will be headlined by a featherweight fight between Max Holloway and Calvin Kattar. The January 20th event will see Neil Magny and Michael Chiesa facing off in the main event.