Ilia Topuria is seeking a new opponent after a positive COVID-19 test scratched Movsar Evloev from UFC 270.
Multiple people with knowledge of the promotion’s plans confirmed Movsar’s status to MMA Fighting and the search for a new opponent.
Topuria on Twitter called out featherweight veteran Dan Ige to replace Evloev on the Jan. 22 fight card at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.
Bad news! @MovsarUFC is out. We already knew that this was gonna happen. @Dynamitedan808, are you up for a fight? Let me know ASAP and if you are down, hope to see you January 22. Let’s go!
— Ilia Topuria (@Topuriailia) January 11, 2022
Topuria is six months removed from his second consecutive knockout win in the UFC, which took place in a bout against Ryan Hall at UFC 264. Topuria remains unbeaten as a professional with an 11-0 ledger.
In Evloev, Topuria faced another unbeaten opponent with the Russian holding a 15-0 record, including five straight UFC wins by decision.
Ige presents an opponent looking for redemption after losses in three of his previous four bouts. Most recently, Ige suffered a unanimous decision loss to Josh Emmett at UFC 269, which followed a unanimous decision loss against Chan Sung Jung.
UFC 270 is headlined by a heavyweight title unifier between champ Francis Ngannou and interim champ Ciryl Gane. A total of 14 bouts have been announced for the card.