Positive COVID-19 test pushes Renato Moicano vs. Rafael Fiziev to UFC 256

Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 18 card has lost a key lightweight matchup – but it didn’t go too far.

Renato Moicano (14-3-1 MMA, 6-3 UFC) was set to take on Rafael Fiziev (8-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) this week, but a positive COVID-19 test for Moicano has pushed the bout to next month.

Instead, Moicano vs. Fiziev will take place at UFC 256, which takes place Dec. 12 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. MMA Junkie confirmed the move with a person with knowledge of the matchup following an initial report from MMAFighting.com.

After compiling a 5-3 record as a featherweight in the UFC, including wins over Calvin Kattar and Cub Swanson, Moicano moved up to lightweight and submitted Damir Hadzovic in just 44 seconds at UFC on ESPN+ 28 in March. He was scheduled to face Magomed Mustafaev in October, but was forced out due to undisclosed reasons.

Fiziev dropped his promotional debut to Mustafaev in April 2019, but rebounded with back-to-back wins over Alex White and, most recently, Marc Diakiese at UFC on ESPN+ 30 in July.

With the change, the UFC 256 lineup includes:

• Petr Yan vs. Aljamain Sterling
• Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Brandon Moreno
• Tony Ferguson vs. Charles Oliveira
• Dwight Grant vs. Li Jingliang
• Ronaldo Souza vs. Marvin Vettori
• Angela Hill vs. Tecia Torres
• Mackenzie Dern vs. Virna Jandiroba
• Omari Akhmedov vs. TBA
• Serghei Spivac vs. Jared Vanderaa
• Dalcha Lungiambula vs. Karl Roberson
• Peter Barrett vs. Chase Hooper
• Billy Quarantillo vs. Gavin Tucker
• Andrea Lee vs. Gillian Robertson
• Rafael Fiziev vs. Renato Moicano