Undefeated Moldovan heavyweight Alexander Romanov was expected to take on Marcin Tybura at UFC 251, but withdrew from the card earlier this month. Initially, the cause for his exit was not clear, however, his gym has now revealed he tested positive for COVID-19.

 

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‼️ Dragi prieteni, cu toții așteptam cu nerăbdare debutul lui Alexandr Romanov în UFC, care urma să aibă loc în această sâmbătă, 11 iulie 2020. Din păcate, acesta și echipa lui au fost testați POZITIV la Covid-19 la data de 01.07.2020 și chiar dacă testul repetat, efectuat la 03.07.2020, a fost NEGATIV, indicând doar prezența anticorpilor la unul dintre antrenori, Alexandr Romanov a fost deja scos din fight card, la fel cum au mai fost excluși încă alți patru luptători străini ce urmau să se lupte sâmbătă la UFC 251. 😔 Alexandr se simte excelent, se antrenează în izolare și așteaptă următoarea sa luptă în UFC. Îi urăm succes și sănătate! 💪 ‼️ Dear friends, we were all looking forward to Alexander Romanov’s debut in UFC, which was to take place this Saturday, July 11, 2020. Unfortunately, he and his team tested POSITIVE for Covid-19 on the 1st of July 2020 and even if the repeated test, done on the 3rd of July 2020 came back NEGATIVE, indicating only the presence of antibodies in one of the coaches’ system, Alexander Romanov has already been removed from the fight card, just as other four other foreign fighters who were going to fight Saturday at UFC 251. 😔 Alexander feels great, he trains in isolation and looks forward to his next fight in UFC. We wish him success and good health! 💪 ‼️Дорогие друзья, мы все с нетерпением ждем дебюта Александра Романова в UFC, который должен был состояться в эту субботу, 11 июля 2020. К сожалению, для него и его команды тест на Covid-19 который они сдали 01.07.2020 дал положительный результат. И даже если повторный тест который провели 03.07.2020, был негативным, показывая наличие только антител у одного из тренеров, Александр Романов был уже снят с файт карта, также как были сняты ещё четверо иностранных бойцов которые должны были драться на UFC 251. 😔 Александр чувствует себя превосходно, тренируется изолировано и ждет поединка в UFC. Желаем только успеха и здоровья!!! 💪

A post shared by Lion Comrat (@lioncomrat) on Jul 9, 2020 at 2:13am PDT

“Dear friends, we were all looking forward to Alexander Romanov’s debut in UFC, which was to take place this Saturday, July 11, 2020,” an Instagram post from Romanov’s gym read on Instagram (h/t MMA Junkie). “Unfortunately, he and his team tested POSITIVE for Covid-19 on the 1st of July 2020 and even if the repeated test, done on the 3rd of July 2020 came back NEGATIVE, indicating only the presence of antibodies in one of the coaches’ system, Alexander Romanov has already been removed from the fight card, just as other four other foreign fighters who were going to fight Saturday at UFC 251. Alexander feels great, he trains in isolation and looks forward to his next fight in UFC. We wish him success and good health!”

Romanov, a veteran of Moldova’s Eagles Fighting Championship, has been replaced by Professional Fighters League veteran Maxim Grishin. Grishin will be making his UFC debut.