Around the world, we are seeing events being cancelled due to the Coronavirus outbreak. But surprisingly, both the UFC and Bellator are moving ahead with their planned events for now, with UFC vice president of communications Lenee Breckenridge stating that everything is “proceeding as planned for our upcoming events.”
“As with any UFC event, our top priority is the health and safety of our fans, athletes, and staff,” Breckenridge said in a statement. “We are monitoring the situation closely in conjunction with our venue partners and medical team, and we are following the recommended guidelines from the Southern Nevada Health District (SNHD) and the CDC. We also encourage our fans to observe the common sense health precautions suggested by the CDC, such as washing hands frequently and staying home if you are sick.”
The UFC has a pretty packed scheduled, first with an event Saturday in Brasilia, Brazil, and then an event in London next week. They come to Columbus, Ohio on March 28th, followed by Portland, Oregon on April 11th, and it all wraps up with UFC 249, which is scheduled for April 18th in Brooklyn. As you can imagine, cancelling any or all of these events would have huge financial implications.. especially UFC 249!
Bellator has an event this Friday night at the Mohegan Sun resort in Connecticut. A spokesperson for the promotion said officials “fully anticipate” Bellator 241 to go on as scheduled. After that, Bellator does not have another event after Friday until May 9th. “We are closely monitoring the situation and have been in close contact with our venue partners,” a Bellator statement said.
Meanwhile, Combate Americas announced that it was canceling three March events, with plans to reschedule later in the year. The first was scheduled for this Friday in Tucson, Arizona, followed by March 20th in Mexico City and March 27th in San Antonio, Texas.
“We put the health & safety of our athletes, fans & staff above all other considerations,” Combate Americas CEO Campbell McLaren said in a statement. “Combate Americas’ mission is to bring together people throughout the U.S., Mexico, South America and Spain, and that requires frequent travel to an array of locations, both foreign and domestic. Our live studio version of Combate Americas will continue to deliver mucha más acción.”
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