Report: Curtis Blaydes Tests Positive For COVID-19, UFC Vegas 15 Headliner With Derrick Lewis Cancelled

Mandatory Credit: Chris Unger - Zuffa LLC

Tomorrow night's UFC Vegas 15 event has lost its headliner. Slated to take main event honours at the UFC Apex facility, a high-stakes heavyweight headliner between streaking contender, Curtis 'Razor' Blaydes, and one-time title challenger, Derrick 'The Black Beast' Lewis has fallen to the wayside. 

Returning a positive test result for COVID-19, Elevation Fight Team feature, Blaydes has been forced from the event. According to a report from ESPN MMA reporter, Ariel Helwani - Blaydes has returned a positive test result, forcing the fight to the shelves, ahead of a potential rescheduling in December. 

Juco national wrestling champion, Blaydes, who has scored victories in his last four on the trot, was in line for his third headlining tilt of this year, following UFC Fight Night Raleigh and UFC Vegas 3 victories over former champion, Junior dos Santos, and Alexander Volkov, respectively. On a four-fight rise, the 29-year-old Illinois native currently sits at number two in the official heavyweight stack.

Lewis, the most prolific knockout artist in promotional history with eleven finishes via strikes currently sits at number four in the UFC rankings, following a headlining win of his own over common-foe, Aleksei Oleinik at UFC Vegas 6 in August.

The knockout victory came as fan-favourite, Lewis' third consecutive victory following a pair of judging wins over both Ilir Latifi and Blagoy Ivanov. 

As of writing, it's unknown if the promotion has come to terms on a reworked pairing between both Blaydes and Lewis for the above noted December showcase, however, a light heavyweight pairing between Anthony Smith and Devin Clark is now expected to take headlining status tomorrow night on short-notice.