Ricky Simon reveals he’s out of Brian Kelleher fight due to cornerman testing positive for COVID-19
Ricky Simon will not be fighting Brian Kelleher on September 5.
For weeks now, Simon and Kelleher have been going back-and-forth on social media calling each other out. They were then booked to fight at UFC Vegas 9 but that will no longer be happening. Simon took to social media to announce he is out of the fight due to his cornerman testing positive for COVID-19.
I just got the call that they are pulling me from the card due to one of my cornermen testing positive for Covid. I put in so much work for this fight and I was really looking forward to putting on a show for you guys. To say I’m disappointed is an understatement. pic.twitter.com/bHg43523T2
— Ricky Simón (@RickySimonUFC) August 29, 2020
“I just got the call that they are pulling me from the card due to one of my cornermen testing positive for Covid. I put in so much work for this fight and I was really looking forward to putting on a show for you guys. To say I’m disappointed is an understatement,” Simon wrote on Twitter.
Ricky Simon returned to the win column last time out with a split decision win over Ray Borg. Before that, he suffered a decision loss to Rob Font and a knockout loss to Urijah Faber. Simon is currently 4-2 in the UFC with notable wins over Merab Dvalishvili and Rani Yahya.
Brian Kelleher, meanwhile, had his two-fight winning streak snapped as he lost by unanimous decision to Cody Stamann at UFC 250. During his winning streak, he pulled off two upset wins with a knockout over Hunter Azure and a submission over Ode Osbourne.
It is currently unknown if the UFC will look to find a replacement to keep Brian Kelleher on the card. Perhaps, they could just reschedule this fight for a couple of weeks down the line.
UFC Vegas 9 is now as follows:
- Alistair Overeem vs. Augusto Sakai
- Michel Pereira vs. Zelim Imadaev
- Ovince Saint Preux vs. Alonzo Menifield
- Nicco Montano vs. Julia Avila
- Bartosz Fabinski vs. Andre Muniz
- Thiago Moises vs. Jalin Turner
- Hunter Azure vs. Cole Smith
- Viviane Araujo vs. Montana De La Rosa
- Marcos Rogerio de Lima vs. Alexander Romanov
- Sijara Eubanks vs. Karol Rosa
- Brian Kelleher vs. TBD
