Jimmie Rivera vs. Pedro Munhoz scratched from UFC 258
A highly-anticipated bantamweight rematch between Jimmie Rivera and Pedro Munhoz has been scratched from this Saturday’s UFC 258 card.
Rivera vs. Munhoz was scheduled to take place on the pay-per-view portion of this weekend’s event. Unfortunately, the fight has fallen apart and will not take place this weekend, though the hope is that it can be rescheduled for a card on February 27. According to MMAFighting.com, there was a positive COVID-19 test that led to the fight being canceled. It’s unclear if that means either of the fighters tested positive or if there was a close contact that did. Both Rivera and Munhoz previously tested positive for COVID-19 in 2020, so it would be surprising to see either man test positive for a second time. If that’s the case, then this certainly raises a lot of questions. However, we do not have all the details yet either way.
Rivera (23-4) is the No. 9 ranked bantamweight in the UFC. The 31-year-old American has been on the UFC roster since 2015 and has put together a solid 7-3 record in the Octagon. He has a notable win over Munhoz from when they met back at UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs. Henderson 3 in November 2015. Rivera took home a split decision that night and went on to become a title contender at 135lbs. He has struggled a bit as of late, going 1-2 over his last three fights. But to be fair to Rivera, he lost to Petr Yan and Aljamain Sterling, and he picked up a decision win over Cody Stamann to snap that skid last July on Fight Island.
Munhoz (18-5, 1 NC) is the No. 8 ranked bantamweight in the UFC. The 34-year-old Brazilian is 8-5, 1 NC overall in the UFC with a notable KO win over former UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt. Since that big KO win back at UFC 235, Munhoz has lost back-to-back fights to Frankie Edgar and Aljamain Sterling, but he was competitive in both of those fights and is still one of the best 135lbers in the world.
Per the UFC, a 140lbs catchweight featuring Andre Ewell vs. Chris Gutierrez will take its place on the UFC 258 main card in place of Rivera vs. Munhoz.
