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The string of casualties for the UFC continues. Following the withdrawal of Yoel Romero from his fight against Uriah Hall, the Light Heavyweight bout between Ion Cutelaba and Magomed Ankalaev has been called-off after the former tested positive for COVID-19.
Ion Cutelaba and Magomed Ankalaev were set for their highly-awaited rematch for this weekend's UFC 252 card but the Light Heavyweight is officially off. Cutelaba's manager Tiago Okamura confirmed the news after an initial report from Igor Lazorin of TASS.
Ion Cutelaba vs Magomed Ankalaev removed from UFC 252
Earlier in the year, March 1 to be specific, Ion Cutelaba and Magomed Ankalaev initially squared-off against one another on the UFC Fight Night: Benavidez vs Figueiredo card.
The fight had a controversial ending, as the referee called off the bout in favor Ankalaev within the first 38 seconds of the first round. Ankalaev, after clocking his opponent with a punch, was announced the winner of the bout, via TKO. Ion Cutelaba almost immediately protested and claimed that he was setting up a trap to catch his opponent off-guard, with a counter.
The controversial TKO eventually led to the UFC re-booking the bout for UFC 249, however, the fight was called off when the entire event had to be postponed due to the on-going coronavirus pandemic.
With the rematch set for this weekend's UFC 252, which is likely to be Daniel Cormier's final UFC pay-per-view and was also Ion Cutelaba's chance of sharing a card with DC, it now looks like 'The Hulk' won't be getting his chance of competing on the same PPV as DC.
Ion Cutelaba to return on August 29?
Ion Cutelaba's manager did write the following:
“Just got to make sure he doesnt get sick these next few days."
Adding to the fact that the current plan for his team is to re-book this fight for the August 29th card. So there is a possibility that Ion Cutelaba vs Magomed Ankalaev will indeed take place this month.
