UFC chief Dana White's worst fears have become a reality after a fighter on the UFC 249 card returned a positive test for coronavirus.
Brazilian Jacare Souza is off the card after testing positive. Souza had weighed in and completed a stare down against his opponent Uriah Hall.
Both men wore masks for their faceoff, with Souza wearing gloves in addition to a mask.
https://twitter.com/JonAlba/status/1258965060380213249?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwBoth fighters faced off standing several feet farther apart than any of the other fighters on the card.
Souza even gave White a fist bump as he got off the stage after the weigh-in.
While that fight has been called off, UFC executive vice president and chief business officer Hunter Campbell told ESPN that the rest of the event will continue as planned.
"Souza arrived in Jacksonville on Wednesday and informed UFC officials that a family member had tested positive," the report states. "Souza was asymptomatic, but was isolated and tested, and Friday the test came back positive.
"The UFC has conferred with Florida athletic officials, who said the fights can go on as scheduled because the system worked in Souza's case."
Questions were also raised about just who Souza had come into contact with and who he had been around. With many left believing the event could simply not go ahead.
https://twitter.com/arielhelwani/status/1258948984518971392?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwESPN's Ariel Helwani reported no other fighter on the card had returned a positive test and Souza had since left the hotel where the fighters were staying.
A Florida commission official told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the Brazilian was isolated upon his arrival until results came back.
However a no deleted video posted by heavyweight Fabricio Werdum, who is also on the card, shows Jacare near several fighters at the hotel.
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