A bantamweight clash between Pedro
Munhoz and Jimmie
Rivera has been removed from the UFC
258 card after someone involved in the bout tested positive for
COVID-19.
MMAFighting.com was first to report the news. The promotion is
reportedly targeting Feb. 27 to rebook the matchup. Munhoz vs.
Rivera was scheduled to take place on the pay-per-view portion of
Saturday’s card. UFC 258 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas
and is headlined by a welterweight championship matchup between
Kamaru
Usman and Gilbert
Burns. According to the UFC’s event page, Andre Ewell vs.
Chris Gutierrez will replace Munhoz-Rivera on the pay-per-view
draw.
Rivera and Munhoz initially squared off more than five years ago at
UFC Fight Night 77, with Rivera claiming a split-decision triumph.
That was part of a 20-bout professional winning streak for Rivera,
who is just 2-3 in the Octagon since 2018. Most recently, “El
Terror” snapped a two-bout skid with a three-roud verdict against
Cody
Stamann at UFC on ESPN 13 on July 15.
Munhoz, meanwhile, is coming off a narrow split-decision defeat to
Frankie
Edgar at UFC on ESPN 15. Prior to that, “The Young Punisher”
had a three-bout winning streak snapped in a decision loss to
current No. 1 contender Aljamain
Sterling at UFC 238.