UFC veteran Oli Thompson will not be competing at UAE Warriors 13 ‘due to a shortage of Covid tests in the UK’.
The English heavyweight explained the situation in a Facebook post:
https://www.facebook.com/209884429092621/posts/3316551991759167/?d=n
Thompson was due to take on American Chris Barnett in a rematch. The pair first met in 2015 with the Englishman winning via unanimous decision.
Thompson seems to have had a bit of an ordeal trying to make it to Abu Dhabi. He missed two planes whilst waiting for the results of his Covid-19 test with passengers required to prove they are not infected with the virus before boarding.
The English heavyweight announced the news via his Facebook page on Tuesday and said that he’d missed out on a couple of ‘very good different opportunities offered’ that he wasn’t able to take, and whilst he’s ‘ready for the next’ opportunity, he is currently uncertain as to when or where that will be.
Adding insult to injury for Thompson was the fact that he is, in fact, Covid-19 negative. He received the results soon after making the original Facebook post, too late to get on a flight to Abu Dhabi in time for Friday’s event.
UAE Warriors 13 will be headlined by a heavyweight fight between Chi Lewis-Parry and Fabio Maldonado. There is no word on whether or not the promotion will try and find a new opponent for Barnett.
UAE Warriors 13, Abu Dhabi, September 25th
Chi Lewis-Parry (c) vs. Fábio Maldonado (For Heavyweight Title)
Abdulla Al Bousheiri vs. Dean Barry (Welterweight)
Agshin Babaev vs. Gi Bum Moon (Featherweight)
Vladimir Bykov vs. Tarek Suleiman (Middleweight)
Christina Stelliou vs. Casey O’Neill (Flyweight)
Hashem Arkhagha vs. Yuri Fraga (Middleweight)
TBA vs. Chris Barnett (Heavyweight)
Juares Dea vs. Xavier Alaoui (Featherweight)
Topnoi Tigermuaythai vs. Isaac Pimentel (Bantamweight)
