Why was the UFC main even fight between Curtis Blaydes and Derrick Lewis cancelled?

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The latest Fight Night event won’t see Curtis Blaydes vs Derrick Lewis take place after the battle was cancelled

The UFC was dealt another blow ahead of the latest Fight Night event with the main fight being cancelled on the eve of the show.

Derrick Lewis vs Curtis Blaydes had been built up as a battle of the Heavyweights with both stars keen on getting a title shot in the future.

Derrick Lewis wants to fight Conor McGregor next
Derrick Lewis reacts after his knockout over Aleksei Oleinik of Russia in their heavyweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on August 08, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

However, Blaydes tested positive for Covid-19 on the eve of the show and the fight against Lewis was cancelled.

Blaydes didn’t have much to say about his positive test but Lewis certainly didn’t hold back. The Black Beast posted a few photos of social media and suffice to say, he wanted to fight on Saturday.

 

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A post shared by Derrick Lewis (@thebeastufc)

This put the UFC in a tough spot given that the event would go ahead and they needed a replacement fight.

They did get a replacement in with Anthony Smith taking up the main event slot. The former title contender faces Devin Clark and the pair were to battle for three rounds initially. However, this has now been made a five-round clash and it will be interesting to see how the pair do given they had been training for a three-round fight.

Final UFC Fight Night: Smith vs Clark card

A few other fights were also replaced well before the event due to Covid-19 results and also injuries. The card, at the time of writing, features four fights on the prelim card with six on the main card.

Glover Teixeira dominated Anthony Smith at UFC Fight Night
Glover Teixeira (R) fights Anthony Smith in their Light Heavyweight bout during UFC Fight Night (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)

A couple of stars did miss weight and the second last fight now sees Miguel Baeza take on Takashi Sato in a Welterweight clash.

Prelim card

Bantamweight: Martin Day vs Anderson dos Santos

Women’s Flyweight: Gina Mazany vs Rachael Ostovich

Flyweight: Su Mudaerji vs Malcolm Gordon

Catchweight: Luke Sanders vs Nathan Maness

Main card

Light Heavyweight: Anthony Smith vs Devin Clark

Welterweight: Miguel Baeza vs Takashi Sato

Heavyweight: Josh Parisian vs Parker Porter

Featherweight: Spike Carlyle vs Bill Algeo

Catchweight: Ashlee Evans-Smith vs Norma Dumont Viana

Featherweight: Jonathan Pearce vs Kai Kamaka III

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