SINGAPORE - Covid-19 has again thwarted mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters Bibiano Fernandes and John Lineker from squaring off in the One Championship cage.
Brazilian fighter Fernandes, who is One's bantamweight world champion, was scheduled to face compatriot Lineker in the headline fight of One's Bad Blood event at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Friday night (Feb 11).
But Lineker tested positive upon his arrival in Singapore, leading One to scrap the fight. He had tested negative prior to his departure from Brazil.
Confirming his withdrawal in an Instagram post, Lineker, 31, said he was pulling out "for (Fernandes') and my safety".
He added: "But we already have a new date, and yes I'm going to get this title. Up all the way! Thank you all."
Fernandes did not comment on the cancellation, instead posting an Instagram story of a negative antigen rapid test with the caption, "All good on my end".
Their initial bout at the One X event last December was postponed over rising coronavirus cases. A new date for their rescheduled fight has not been announced.
A second fight for One’s Bad Blood event, the bout between former One strawweight world champion Yosuke Saruta and Cuban wrestler Gustavo Balart, has also been cancelled after Saruta tested positive for Covid-19. That leaves Friday’s event with 10 bouts.
One was the first sports organisation to begin hosting large-scale events in Singapore since the pandemic began, starting from October 2020, but have had to pivot quickly to alter their fight cards or event plans due to positive tests involving overseas athletes or their entourage.
In January this year, Russian MMA superstar Khabib Nurmagomedov missed out on appearing at One's Heavy Hitters event after testing positive upon arrival.
He had been slated to be in the corner of his countryman, Saygid Izagakhmaev.
Two weeks later, Russian brawler Anatoly Malykhin tested positive for Covid-19 before another event and his interim heavyweight title fight with Belarusian Kirill Grishenko was postponed to Friday's Bad Blood event.
Now, the clash between Malykhin and Grishenko looks set to headline the closed-door Bad Blood event. The showdown will be a hotly-contested one between two undefeated MMA fighters.
In a pre-match interview, Malykhin said: "For Kirill, it's going to be a very, very hard evening. I'm going to crush it to the end to get my US$50,000 .
"Yeah, I'm planning to end him up in the third round. For the first two rounds, I'll be showing the beauty of boxing and wrestling and in the third round, I'm going to finish him."
His opponent, Grishenko, acknowledged the task ahead of him and said: "I'm pretty sure it's going to be a hard evening for both of us. I know, I'm almost ready for Anatoly so I'm ready for all the five rounds and I'm not going to predict right now what round but I'm ready to fight all the fights."