It was revealed Saturday morning that Gilbert Burns will not be fighting in UFC 251. He was slated to face off against Kamaru Usman in the highly anticipated main event. Jazz Sports offers a generous welcome bonus with a maximum of $1000.
The fight was set to go off July 11 from the UFC's Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. A replacement had yet to be named Saturday morning although both Jorge Masvidal and former title challenger Colby Covington took to Twitter late Friday night to campaign for the fight.
Masvidal's manager, Abraham Kawa, said his fighter is "absolutely willing" to take this bout on a week's notice.
Burns, 33, appeared to reference his removal from the fight in a tweet early Saturday, writing "devastating news" and saying he is "not feeling well but I'm going to win this battle."
Burns is believed to have tested positive for Covid-19.
He trained for the bout in Florida and traveled from The Sunshine State to Las Vegas. He was tested upon arrival in Las Vegas and the test results came back positive.
UFC's charter flight from Las Vegas to Abu Dhabi was scheduled to depart late Friday night, sources said, but neither Usman nor Burns was on the flight. Neither was seen at the airport as well, sources said.
- Don Shapiro, Gambling911.com
