Kissing Disease (And Pneumonia) Knocks Murzakanov From UFC Austin

Here we go again …

UFC Austin just lost a banger fight due to the “kissing disease.” Indeed, UFC CEO, Dana White, recently announced that the planned Light Heavyweight showdown between No. 11-ranked Khalil Rountree Jr. and No. 12-seeded Azamat Murzakanov next weekend (Sat., Dec. 2, 2023) was scrapped because the latter came down with pneumonia and mononucleosis.

Now, Rountree Jr. will fight No. 8-seeded Anthony Smith at UFC Vegas 84, which is scheduled for Sat., Jan. 13, 2024, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Yesterday (Nov. 25, 2023), Murzakanov’s coach, Murat MK Keshtov, took to his Instagram to explain the situation of his fighter.

“Well, what can we say,” Keshtov wrote. “This camp was really going well for Azamat, and this is the best shape he has been in so far in his career, and he was ready to go. But a few days ago, out of nowhere, he got a very high fever which he tried to fight off – but it was relentless – indicating that something more serious was going on. Eventually, we ended up going to the emergency room, where he was diagnosed with pneumonia and mononucleosis.

We were hoping the fight could be postponed to December 16th with the same opponent – or anybody else – but rules are rules, and the doctors wouldn’t allow it: they issued a medical suspension for two months,” Keshtov continued. “Although Azamat tried to do everything in his power to follow through with the fight, it still fell through, and for that we would like to apologize to the UFC fans, UFC and especially to Dana White, Mick Maynard, and Khalil Rountree.

The goal right now is to recover ASAP and to get back into the octagon. We would appreciate it if the UFC could schedule Azamat’s next fight late February or early March. Thank you all for your support.”

Murzakanov (13-0) has been perfect in the UFC thus far, knocking out Tafon Nchukwi (watch highlights), stopping Devin Clark, and most recently defeating Dustin Jacoby via unanimous decision at UFC Kansas City.

Hopefully, the Russian gets healthy from mononucleosis, which is often called the kissing disease, and returns to action soon.

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