Movsar Evloev explains why he withdrew from Aaron Pico Matchup

Movsar Evloev is said to have contracted the coronavirus ahead of his scheduled fight against Aaron Pico last year. Evloev was set to welcome former Bellator MMA star Aaron Pico to the UFC at UFC 319 last August. However, Evloev pulled out of the bout with barely two weeks to go before fight night. Evloev recently revealed that he was forced out of the fight due to the coronavirus, the same virus responsible for the 2020-2021 global lockdown. Evloev claims he was struck by the virus in Thailand and decided to withdraw when he felt terrible even with simple exercises.

Struggling to train

“The last time I withdrew because of some coronavirus in Thailand,” Evloev told Submission Radio. “I was ready to fight, but two weeks before the fight I started feeling so bad. Even doing simple exercises made me feel so bad, so I decided to withdraw.”Evloev (19-0) was replaced on short notice by Lerone Murphy (17-0), who knocked out Pico with a spinning back elbow. Champion Alexander Volkanovski even said that Murphy might have edged Evloev into the title race with his knockout win over Pico. However, both Evloev and Murphy were sidelined when Diego Lopes challenged Volkanovski in a rematch for the title at UFC 325 last month. Volkanovski defended his title with a unanimous victory over Lopes. Evloev and Murphy will now battle in a potential title eliminator in the main event of UFC London on March 31 at the O2 Arena.