Cigano Hospitalized, Bounced From UFC Moscow

Photo by Donald Miralle/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is on the hunt for a new main event for its upcoming UFC Fight Night 163 mixed martial arts (MMA) fight card on ESPN+, scheduled for Sat., Nov. 9, 2019 inside CSKA Arena in Moscow, Russia.

That’s because former heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos, who was slotted to throw hands with hometown hero Alexander Volkov, has been hospitalized all week with a bacterial infection in his leg, one severe enough to require a drain.

That’s according to a report from RT Sport, later confirmed by MMA Fighting.

Dos Santos (21-6) is coming off a first-round technical knockout loss to former title contender Francis Ngannou. Getting finished by “The Predator” snapped a three-fight winning streak, one that included a second-round destruction of Derrick Lewis.

The only silver lining to this unfortunate turn of events is that finding a heavyweight replacement is much easier than subbing for any other division, as last-minute weight cuts are (almost) never a factor.

Stay tuned.