December 19, 2015; Orlando, FL, USA; Junior Dos Santos fights against Alistair Overeem during UFC Fight Night at Amway Center. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
Report: Junior dos Santos out of UFC Moscow main event
The main event at UFC Moscow has taken a hit as former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos will reportedly have to withdraw from the fight against Alexander Volkov. Russian media outlet RT Sport was first to report the news that dos Santos was out of the fight, and MMA Fighting reported that “Cigano” has been hospitalized with a bacterial infection.
https://twitter.com/DenisGeykoRT/status/1186552596099674113
According to the report from Guilherme Cruz of MMA Fighting, dos Santos has been hospitalized for over a week due to a bacterial infection in his leg. Since being hospitalized, dos Santos has undergone two procedures on his leg, one to drain it and the other to remove the drain.
The UFC Moscow event is scheduled for November 9 on ESPN+ and was supposed to be the return of dos Santos after he suffered a first-round knockout loss to Francis Ngannou in June earlier this year. Prior to his fight against Ngannou, dos Santos had a three fight winning streak with wins over Derrick Lewis, Tai Tuivasa, and Blagoy Ivanov.
As for dos Santos’ scheduled opponent Alexander Volkov, this will be his first fight in over a year, after he was finished by Derrick Lewis in their fight at UFC 229 in October of 2018. A native of Moscow, Russia, Volkov was set for the big matchup against dos Santos which would have major implications in the heavyweight division. While the UFC has yet to announce any news on Junior dos Santos, there’s been no news about Volkov’s placement on the card.
Recently, former heavyweight title challenger Francis Ngannou was vocal about his frustration with the UFC and their lack of getting him a fight against a top-ranked heavyweight while Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier likely prepare for a trilogy title fight. While the news about Junior dos Santos’ withdraw is still fresh, Ngannou has not made any public statements about whether or not he’d like to fill-in and face Volkov in Russia.
