Junior dos Santos hospitalized, out of UFC Moscow fight with Alexander Volkov

Former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos is out of his upcoming main event bout with Alexander Volkov in Moscow, Russia, on Nov. 9, with a serious bacterial infection, sources close to the fighter told MMA Fighting on Tuesday.

Russian outlet RT Sport was first to report the news of dos Santos’ withdrawal from the UFC Fight Night show.

According to sources, the heavyweight veteran has been dealing with a bacterial infection in his leg and has been in a hospital for over a week. dos Santos underwent two procedures - one to introduce a drain and then another to remove it.

Dos Santos (21-6), who was entering UFC Moscow in the last fight of his deal with the promotion, was looking to get back on track after losing via first-round knockout to Francis Ngannou in June. “Cigano” was on a three-fight winning streak over Derrick Lewis, Tai Tuivasa and Blagoy Ivanov prior to that.

Volkov (30-7) hasn’t fought since October of 2018, when he lost by third-round finish to Lewis. He was scheduled to face Alistair Overeem in April, but the bout fell through. The Russian heavyweight won his six straight prior to his fight with Lewis, stopping the likes of Fabricio Werdum and Stefan Struve.