UFC’s return could provide blueprint for other leagues
JACKSONVILLE (US): UFC president Dana White wanted a major fight card weeks ago. He was confident his team could pull it off whether it took place on a tribal land, on a private island or in any of the 10 states offering to host it.
Coronavirus testing. Fan-free arena. Social distancing. Selfisolation. White looked at all those unprecedented details that seemed too complex and too risky to some outsiders as merely extra challenges. “I knew we could do this,” he said following UFC 249 on Saturday night. “Even with all the hurdles that we had early on, this has been fun. It’s been challenging and it’s been fun.”
White and the UFC look like the big winners following their rousing show at Veterans Memorial Arena, an event that could serve as a blueprint for other sports leagues around the world.
The NFL, NBA, NHL, Major League Baseball and NASCAR, all of them had to have an eye on how the UFC approached and handled the first major humancentric sporting event in the US since the pandemic.
The UFC created a 25-page document to address health and safety protocols, which included disinfecting the octagon between bouts and mandating tests and masks for everyone in attendance.
The spotlight only intensified when one fighter, Jacaré Souza, and two of his cornermen tested positive for Covid-19 a day before the stacked card.
Souza was pulled from the fight and removed from the hotel where hundreds of UFC employees are staying this week. The UFC has two more fight nights scheduled this week in Jacksonville, beginning Wednesday, and plans to administer more than 1,000 more Covid-19 tests for everyone scheduled to take part.
On Saturday, Justin Gaethje stunned Tony Ferguson in the main event, earning a TKO in a lightweight bout that set the winner up to fight titleholder Khabib Nurmagomedov next. Heavyweight contender Francis Ngannou pummeled his fourth straight opponent, this one in 20 seconds.
About the only negative was the empty arena, where punches, kicks, grunts, steps, trash talk, corner coaching and TV commentary echoed off metal beams and vacant seats.
Finding a way to recreate those missing moments could be the next challenge, one White surely would welcome as long as the show goes on.