Mark Striegl’s debut at the Ultimate Fighting Championship will have to wait for a while.
The Filipino-American’s bout was called off after he tested positive for COVID-19 Friday.
The 32-year-old mixed martial artist was scheduled to fight Russian Timur Valiev in his debut on Sunday for the non-title bantamweight bout at the UFC APEX facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Sporting an 18-2 win-loss MMA career record, Striegl confirmed the development.
Trevin Jones will instead take the spot of Striegl against the Russian, who was heavily favored against the the 2019 Southeast Asian Games gold medalist.
Known for his all-around grappling skills and striking prowess, Striegl won four out of his last five bouts under ONE Championship and Universal Reality Combat Championships.
Despite the cancelation, Striegl has still four fights left in his recently signed contract with the UFC.
With the pandemic shutting down all MMA promotions except the UFC, the Baguio-based Striegl, 32, flew to Las Vegas last July hoping to land a fight with the promotion.
Striegl fought three times under ONE Championship with all fights held at the Mall of Asia Arena. He then fought four times under local promotion URCC with the last fight being held last year.
Striegl won a gold medal in Sambo for the Philippines during the 2019 Southeast Asian Games. Sambo is a style of amateur wrestling included in World Wrestling Championships along with Greco-Roman wrestling and freestyle wrestling.
Striegl’s professional MMA debut was when he beat Andy Jewett through rear-naked choke at Total Combat 34 held July 25, 2009 at the Star Light Bowl at Balboa Park, San Diego.
The main event of UFC Fight Night features a Bantamweight battle between Pedro Munhoz and Frankie Edgar. The co-main event is a Light Heavyweight match between Ovince St. Preux and Alonzo Menifield.
