One's main bout axed as Lineker down with virus

Covid-19 has again thwarted mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters Bibiano Fernandes and John Lineker from squaring off in the One Championship cage.

Fernandes, who is One's bantamweight world champion, was scheduled to face his fellow Brazilian in the headline fight of One's Bad Blood event at the Singapore Indoor Stadium tonight.

But Lineker tested positive on his arrival here, leading One to scrap the fight. He had tested negative before leaving 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, 41, 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 tonight's event with 10 bouts.

One was the first sports organisation to begin hosting large-scale events here since the pandemic began, starting from Oct 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.

Last month, Russian star Khabib Nurmagomedov missed One's Heavy Hitters event after testing positive on arrival. He had been slated to be in the corner of his countryman, Saygid Izagakhmaev.

Two weeks later, Russian brawler Anatoly Malykhin tested positive before another event. His interim heavyweight title fight with Belarusian Kirill Grishenko was postponed till today and will now headline the closed-door Bad Blood event.

Their 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 (S$67,200).

"I'm planning to end him up in the third round. For the first two rounds, I'll show 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."