UFC Brasilia will still happen on Saturday but will do so with no fans in attendance due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Brazilian outlet, Combate, was first to report the event will go on but the venue will be closed to the fans. The venue’s management company, Arena Bsb, told the site the event will go ahead inside the 16,000-capacity arena as planned, but with no fans in the stands.
This will be the first event in Brazil to have no fans due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
Not only will the event go on with no fans, but media day on Thursday and ceremonial weigh-ins have also been canceled.
The report comes just one day after Brasilia governor Ibaneis Rocha announced that all sporting events and concerts with large gatherings of people will be suspended until March 16.
This will no doubt be a weird setting for all the fighters involved to walk out and fight in front of no fans. But, this is something MMA fans should start to get used to as the London and Columbus card may also be affected due to their government’s new policy with large gatherings.
Currently, the UFC has yet to make this report official, but all signs point to this happening.
Here is the current UFC Brasilia card:
Main Card
- Kevin Lee vs. Charles Oliveira
- Gilbert Burns vs. Demian Maia
- Damir Hadzovic vs. Renato Moicano
- Nikita Krylov vs. Johnny Walker
- John Makdessi vs. Francisco Trinaldo
Prelims
- Jussier Formiga vs. Brandon Moreno
- Randa Markos vs. Amanda Ribas
- Aleksei Kunchenko vs. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos
- Enrique Barzola vs. Rani Yahya
- Maryna Moroz vs. Mayra Bueno Silva
- David Dvorak vs. Bruno Silva
- Veronica Macedo vs. Bea Malecki
