Jacare Souza Tested Positive For COVID-19, Out of UFC 249

Jacare Souza, one of the fighters at the upcoming UFC 249, tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. The Brazilian’s test results came back last night, and he has been removed from the card.

Apart from the fighter himself, two of his cornermen were also tested positive for the virus, and all of them are taken care of right now.

“UFC’s medical team examined Souza and his two cornermen and found them to be currently asymptomatic, or not exhibiting the common symptoms of COVID-19,” the organization issued a statement.

During #UFC249 faceoffs on Friday morning, Jacare, who has since received a positive coronavirus test, maintained a large distance between himself and opponent Uriah Hall. pic.twitter.com/93DIuZJUxg

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) May 9, 2020

The UFC 249, however, will continue as planned, and there won’t be any delays or cancellations. According to Dana White, the entire organization is ready for one of the most anticipated events ever, and arguably the only live-action in the USA in the last two months.

The president of the UFC said yesterday that it is not a surprise to see someone testing positive, and is happy that the safety measures imposed by the organizers gave results.

“We administered 1,200 tests this week, on 300 people,” UFC president Dana White said. “It’s not unexpected; one person would test positive. The system works. And what’s good about this, is now we know Jacare tested positive, he’s doing what he needs to do, and we’re in a position to help him if he needs it.”

Souza was participating in all the activities before the fight, such as staredown, and weigh-in, wearing gloves and a mask. That was before his results came back. After all, this happened, there were some videos and posts from social networks which suggest that he wasn’t paying attention to social distancing rules and that he and Fabricio Werdum were in contact.

This was earlier today from Werdum’s Instagram story.

“Jacare” very close with a group of people all certainly within 6 feet. pic.twitter.com/x1Dcus734G

— Danny Segura (@dannyseguratv) May 9, 2020

Jacare (26-8 MMA, 9-5 UFC) was supposed to fight Uriah Hall (15-9 MMA, 8-7 UFC). He was having a poor streak in the recent period, managing to win just once in four fights. However, all those defeats were after a decision, and two of them were via split decision.

The most recent against Jan Blachowicz was labeled as controversial because many fans believed that the judges took away the victory from the Brazilian. After that battle, Blachowicz rose and became the title challenger, while on the other side, Jacare slipped down on the rankings. The former Strikeforce champion, who is one of the best fighters not to win a title in the UFC, was desperately searching a way to earn a shot at the belt. With 40 years of age, he is aware that there isn’t too much time left for him and that he needs to make the final push now. Unfortunately, things weren’t going in that direction.

As for other fights on the UFC 249 card, they are going as planned. After removing Souza vs. Hall, the fans will have a chance to see 11 bouts, one of them a bantamweight title match, between Henry Cejudo and Dominick Cruz.

The main event is the lightweight bout between Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje, for the interim title of this division. As you all know, it was planned to see Ferguson against Khabib, but the entire situation regarding COVID-19 interrupted those plans. What many await to see is the title-eliminator between Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Francis Ngannou. Whoever wins here is the next challenger of Stipe Miocic.