Dana White shares update on Alexander Volkanovski following UFC 260 withdrawal due to COVID-19
UFC president Dana White shared an update on UFC featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski following his UFC 260 withdrawal due to COVID-19.
Volkanovski was originally set to fight Brian Ortega in a featherweight title defense as the co-main event of UFC 260, but he was forced to withdraw a week before the fight took place after testing positive for COVID-19. Ortega has requested that the UFC re-book the fight for a future date, not wanting to lose his title shot, but as of right now, we don’t have a timetable for Volkanovski’s return. Although many fighters have tested positive for COVID-19 and the majority of them have gotten better quickly, it affects people differently. It appears as though Volkanovski has been hit harder by the coronavirus than many of the other fighters on the UFC roster, at least according to White in a health update.
Speaking to the media following UFC 260, White shared an update on the promotion’s 145lbs champ. According to the UFC president, the promotion is still hoping to do the Volkanovski vs. Ortega fight, but the champ is still sick right now.
“Yeah, we need him to recover from this thing first, and once he recovers, then we’ll figure it out because he’s still sick,” Dana White said. “Once he recovers and we know he’s 100% healthy, we’ll get him in there as soon as we can.”
Ideally, Volkanovski will heal up fast and get back to training so the UFC can re-book him for one of its upcoming pay-per-view cards. UFC 261 in April is completely full with three title fights, but the UFC 262 card in May with Michael Chandler and Charles Oliveira for the vacant belt could use some more star power on it. UFC 263 in June and UFC 264 in July also seem like potential landing spots for this fight. Hopefully, Volkanovski heals up from his illness soon.
