Thomas Almeida needs a new opponent for his long-awaited return to the octagon this month at UFC on ESPN+ 37.
Alejandro Perez (21-8-1 MMA, 7-3-1 UFC), who was scheduled to face Almeida (21-3 MMA, 5-3 UFC) in a bantamweight bout on the Oct. 10 card, which takes place at Flash Forum at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, has been forced out due to a reported positive coronavirus test.
MMA Junkie verified news of Perez’s removal from the matchup with a person close to the situation following an initial report from Milenio.com.
The promotion now seeks a new opponent for Almeida, who hasn’t competed since a TKO loss to Rob Font at UFC 220 in January 2018. The Brazilian, who was once unbeaten at 20-0, hasn’t won since November 2016.
The latest UFC on ESPN+ 37 lineup now includes:
- Marlon Moraes vs. Cory Sandhagen
- Edson Barboza vs. Makwan Amirkhani
- Ben Rothwell vs. Marcin Tybura
- Dricus Du Plessis vs. Markus Perez
- Tom Aspinall vs. Alan Baudot
- Thomas Almeida vs. opponent TBA
- Ilia Topuria vs. Youssef Zalal
- K.B. Bhullar vs. Tom Breese
- Chris Daukaus vs. Rodrigo Nascimento
- Joaquin Buckley vs. Impa Kasanganay
- Ali Alqaisi vs. Tony Kelley
- Giga Chikadze vs. Omar Morales
- Tracy Cortez vs. Stephanie Egger
- Bruno Silva vs. Tagir Ulanbekov