Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
UFC on ESPN 15 has suffered another fight cancellation just hours before the card is expected to start later tonight (Sat., Aug. 22, 2020) live on ESPN/ESPN+ from inside UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada, as Ovince Saint Preux has tested positive for COVID-19.
As a result, Saint Preux’s co-main event clash with Alonzo Menifield has been removed from the ESPN main card. The light heavyweight bout is expected to be rescheduled for UFC’s upcoming Sept. 5th card.
Saint Preux’s manager, Oren Hodak, announced the news just an hour ago via Twitter, stating that “OSP” has been removed from the card for safety precautions after producing both positive and negative test results earlier this week.
For safety precautions the @003_OSP fight will be removed from the card tonight and reschedule for 9/5. He battled Covid previously and presented both + and – tests this week. He currently has no symptoms and his cornermen are all clear. #ufc
— KOreps (@ko_reps) August 22, 2020
“For safety precautions the @003_OSP fight will be removed from the card tonight and reschedule for 9/5. He battled Covid previously and presented both + and – tests this week. He currently has no symptoms and his cornermen are all clear,” wrote Hodak.
Saint Preux, 37, was moving back down to light heavyweight after losing his heavyweight debut opposite Ben Rothwell back in May. The former UFC light heavyweight title challenger was looking to win just his third fight at 205 pounds since the start of 2018.
UFC on ESPN 15 will now proceed with just nine total fights.
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC on ESPN 15 fight card right HERE, starting with the ESPN+/ESPN “Prelims” matches, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, then the remaining main card balance on ESPN+/ESPN at 8:30 p.m. ET.
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