Jack Hermansson vs. Edmen Shahbazyan Moved from UFC 262 to UFC Fight Night 188

An intriguing middleweight showdown between Jack Hermansson and Edmen Shahbazyan has been pushed back one week.

The bout, which was originally slated for UFC 262 this Saturday, will instead go down at UFC Fight Night 188 on May 22. MMA DNA was first to report the news, and UFC president Dana White later told TSN that the postponement was due to a positive COVID-19 case in the Hermansson camp.

UFC Fight Night 188 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a bantamweight showdown between Cody Garbrandt and Rob Font.

Hermansson has lost two of his last three Octagon appearances. Most recently, “The Joker” dropped a five-round verdict against Marvin Vettori at UFC on ESPN 19 on Dec. 5. His 8-4 promotional mark includes wins over the likes of Kelvin Gastelum, Ronaldo Souza, David Branch and Thales Leites.

Shahbazyan, meanwhile suffered his first career loss in 12 outings at UFC Fight Night 173, where he fell to Derek Brunson via third-round technical knockout. The Dana White’s Contender Series alum began his UFC tenure with four straight triumphs, finishing three of those inside of a round.

Hermansson vs. Shahbazyan is the second key bout to be removed from the UFC 262 lineup. Last week, a five-round, non-title clash between Leon Edwards and Nate Diaz that was slated for Saturday’s co-main event was moved to UFC 263 for undisclosed reasons.