The UFC is searching for a new main event for next month’s card in Moscow.
Junior dos Santos, who was scheduled to headline the Nov. 9 card versus Alexander Volkov, has been forced to withdraw from the event after recently contracting cellulitis, a skin infection, on his left shin, according to his manager Ana Claudia Guedes.
Dos Santos has been hospitalized for eight days, Guedes told ESPN. He is currently at a hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, but is hoping to be discharged in the next day or two. He has had two surgical procedures to slice and drain the infection, and it is still being drained, she said.
The UFC wants to keep the Russian-born Volkov on the card, however Guedes said they are hopeful that Volkov instead will be moved to an event in January to fight dos Santos.
The current expectation is that dos Santos will be healthy enough to fight early next year.
The 35-year-old dos Santos (21-5), a former UFC heavyweight champion, is coming off a TKO loss to Francis Ngannou in June.
Ngannou tweeted about potentially taking the fight Tuesday morning, and the UFC did inquire about the possibility of him stepping in on short notice, sources told ESPN. At the moment, however, both sides are nowhere near a deal.
Volkov (30-7) hasn’t fought since his knockout loss to Derrick Lewis last October.