American Top Team head coach Mike Brown will not be in the corner of Jorge Masvidal at UFC 251.
Masvidal is set to challenge UFC welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman, on July 11. The action will be held on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. “Gamebred” is stepping in on short notice after Gilbert Burns tested positive for COVID-19. While Masvidal is ready to return to action, he will not have Brown in his corner.
Mike Brown Tests Positive For COVID-19
Combate reports that Brown won’t be cornering Masvidal after a positive COVID-19 test. Another ATT coach, Gabriel Oliveira, also tested positive. In addition, ATT fighter Pedro Munhoz had to be pulled from his bout with Frankie Edgar scheduled for July 15 due to a positive test result.
MMAFighting later reached out to Brown in a followup to the Combate report. Brown said that he is “all good.” The ATT coach was initially set to depart Las Vegas for Abu Dhabi this past Monday after flying in from Coconut Creek, Florida. A negative test result was required for Brown to board the charter plane and obviously he could not fulfill that requirement.
One source told MMAFighting that Masvidal is still expected to have a four-man corner on fight night. Oliveira told MMAFighting that he felt fine and didn’t fail any tests that were required for him to corner two fights inside the UFC APEX. The problems occurred when he returned to ATT as he started to feel sick. Oliveira says he had a high fever and self-quarantined immediately after his positive test.
Keep it locked on MMA News for continued updates on UFC 251 and other UFC cards set for Fight Island and the UFC APEX. We’ll keep bringing the latest news on which fights undergo changes.
