One of the more anticipated UFC light heavyweight matchups of the fall is going to be cancelled for the second time. Per a report from Combate, Thiago Santos (21-7) has tested positive for COVID-19. His October 3rd fight with Glover Teixiera (31-7) is off.
This is the second time that COVID has derailed this UFC title eliminator. Originally, this fight was supposed to be the main event of UFC Vegas 10 that occurred last weekend. However, Teixiera tested positive and they pushed the fight back to October 3rd.
Now, just weeks ahead of the anticipated matchup, Santos has gone down. We do not have any idea of what the UFC is planning to do just yet. If I had to guess, I would say that the promotion would plan on pushing the fight back once again.
UFC Title Eliminator
The main reason that I believe that the UFC is going to push forward with this fight is the title implications. There is really nobody else in the division that the promotion could pair across Teixiera to make a compelling title eliminator.
Last year, Thiago Santos pushed Jon Jones to the limit in their title fight. Many people thought that Santos won that fight. Santos has been out with a knee injury which is why we haven’t seen him since that fight. This fight could perhaps be pushed back to UFC 254 later in the month.