The UFC have announced some interesting changes to their upcoming cards.

UFC 265 is due to take place next weekend, headlined by Derrick Lewis taking on Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight title after the company grew frustrated with the availability of champion Francis Ngannou.

However the card was due to be co-headlined by ‘Lioness’ Amanda Nunes defending her bantamweight title against Julianna Pena. But the UFC have announced that the double champ and greatest women’s mixed martial artist ever has tested positive for COVID-19 and the fight has now been scrapped.

The UFC revealed that the plan is still for that fight to take place eventually once Nunes is fully healthy and capable, with a December defence now pencilled in instead.

Amanda Nunes tested positive for COVID, canceling her fight against Julianna Peña that was scheduled for #UFC265, UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell told @MikeCoppinger.

Campbell said the plan is to reschedule the bout when Nunes is fully healthy and ready to compete. pic.twitter.com/CMrSSJk8Ds

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) July 29, 2021

Two months later will see UFC 267 take place, but it won’t be a pay-per-view card despite the fact it will host TWO title fights!

Jan Blachowicz will defend his light heavyweight title against Glover Teixeira, in a bout that has been moved from it’s original date of September 4th to October 30th in Abu Dhabi on Fight Island.

The UFC moved the bout as they looked to host a card in London in September, however they have been unsuccessful in doing so and that card will now take place in Las Vegas at the Apex as originally planned.

UFC 267 will also see the highly anticipated rematch between Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan for the bantamweight title after their initial fight ended in disqualification and a new champion back at UFC 259.

According to Ariel Helwani however, this card won’t be a normal pay-per-view card despite it being a numbered event and will air for free on ESPN+ in the USA (BT Sport as usual in the UK).

UFC 267 is slated for Oct. 30 in Abu Dhabi. Jan x Glover for the 205 belt and Aljo x Yan for the 135 title are the title fights. This is out there.

Interestingly enough, though, the event is currently scheduled to be a non-PPV numbered event in USA, I’m told. Some combo of E/E+.

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) July 24, 2021

The reason for this is because the following week on November 6th, UFC 268 will take place and will be headlined by welterweight champion Kamaru Usman defending his title against long-time rival Colby Covington in a rematch.

Usman defeated Covington back in December 2019 at UFC 245, securing a knockout win in the fifth round and breaking Covington’s jaw in the process in one of the greatest welterweight title fights in UFC history.

Kamaru Usman will meet Colby Covington in a welterweight title rematch at UFC 268 in November, Dana White told @bokamotoESPN.

The date and location are not finalized yet, but UFC is hoping for the fight to headline Madison Square Garden. pic.twitter.com/nqVAjgogO4

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) July 26, 2021

Covington bounced back from that loss with a win over Tyron Woodley at UFC Vegas 11, which was enough for Dana White to grant him a rematch. Usman on the other hand has successfully defended his title three more times since that fight, beating Jorge Masivdal at UFC 251 before knocking out Gilbert Burns at UFC 258 and then Masvidal again at UFC 261 earlier this year.