Marcus Buchecha out of ONE 157 after COVID-19 knocks multiple opponent off card, expected to fight at ONE 158

Jiu-Jitsu icon Marcus Buchecha will no longer compete at Friday’s ONE Championship event in Singapore after several opponents have withdrawn from the show.

ONE announced on Thursday morning that Buchecha’s match-up with fellow Brazilian heavyweight Hugo Cunha has been “postponed” due to COVID-19 protocols.

Multiple people close to situation told MMA Fighting that Cunha tested positive weeks ago, and ONE had found a replacement to meet Buchecha on May 20. However, the new foe has also tested positive for COVID-19.

ONE officials confirmed to MMA Fighting that Buchecha is expected to return to action at ONE 158, which goes down in Singapore on June 3, against a yet-to-be-defined opponent. Cunha won't be available to fight on that date.

A multiple-time world champion in jiu-jitsu and grappling, Buchecha has had multiple fight cancellations since making his transition to MMA, including several bouts with “Reug Reug” Oumar Kane that fell through. He’s entered the ONE cage twice so far, submitting Anderson Silva and Ji Won Kang in less than three minutes each.

Check the updated ONE Championship 157 card below.

Main card
Petchomorakot Petchyindee vs. Jimmy Vienot — muay thai
Prajanchai PK.Saenchai vs. Jospeh Lasiri — muay thai
Rodtang Jitmuangnon vs. Jacob Smith — muay thai
Garry Tonon vs. Tye Ruotolo — grappling
Shinya Aoki vs. Kade Ruotolo — grappling
Jonathan Haggerty vs. Walter Goncalves — muay thai

Undercard
Superlek Kiatmoo9 vs. Taiki Naito — muay thai
Savvas Michael vs. Amir Naseri — muay thai
Asha Roka vs. Alyse Anderson
Davit Kiria vs. Mohammed Boutasaa — kickboxing
Nat Jaroonsak vs. Zeba Bano
Panpayak Jitmuangnon vs. Josue Cruz — muay thai
Sherzod Kabutov vs. Denis Puric — muay thai
Elipitua Siregar vs. Robin Catalan

Damon Martin contributed to this report.