The UFC has postponed three upcoming fighting events because of coronavirus.
According to ESPN, UFC President Dana White informed staff in a Monday email that the fights on March 21, March 28 and April 11 were all being put on hold because of the virus. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
The plan for the moment is for the UFC to continue to promote Khabib Nurmagomedov’s April 18th fight against Tony Ferguson, but we should probably start mentally preparing for that to also not happen.
Breaking: The UFC’s next three events — scheduled for March 21, March 28, and April 11 — have been postponed, Dana White communicated to his staff on Monday, via email. (via @bokamotoESPN | @espnmma)
???? https://t.co/OROGefn6OU pic.twitter.com/CwYnBw8HDQ
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 16, 2020
The UFC was a very notable holdout when sports leagues began shutting down because of coronavirus. In fact, it was the only major sporting event this past weekend when fights in Brazil were held without fans.
Kevin Lee holds on after @CharlesDoBronxs forces the tap at #UFCBrasilia pic.twitter.com/k7zXrA8E1k
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) March 15, 2020
However, you could see the writing on the wall once Nevada stepped in and smashed the pause button on combat sports.
Once that occurred, you knew it was only a matter of time before White had no choice but to pause the fights.
Sources: Nevada State Athletic Commission has suspended all combat sporting events indefinitely due to #COVIDー19. Canelo-Saunders can’t be scheduled until ban lifted. Affects UFC events relocated to APEX (March 28 & April 11) along with PBC (March 28) and Top Rank (April 11)
— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) March 14, 2020
Hopefully, this is all fine by April 18th so we can see Khabib fight, but I’m really not holding my breath. At this point, I’m just getting used to stuff getting canceled left and right.
Not having sports is our new normal, and it sucks.
