Can The UFC Ensure UFC 249 Will Be Safe?

The UFC hasn’t held an event since it presented UFC Fight Night 170 in Brasilia, Brazil on March 14. Since then, the promotion has postponed or cancelled eight events. As of now, the UFC intends to stage UFC 249 on May in an as yet disclosed location. The question about that event is, will it be safe for all involved? 

UFC president Dana White has not announced a health and safety plan for the event outside of telling ESPN that the promotion will take all necessary precautions regarding safety. 

If the UFC plans to make the May 9 event as safe as possible, it needs to jump into action as soon as possible according to Dr. Zachary Binney, an epidemiologist at Emory University.

“You would need to probably move every fighter to somewhere in Vegas or wherever you’re doing this,” Binney told The Athletic. “You would need to move every fighter there. Then they would need to be isolated individually. You would need to wait about a week and then test them. If they’re negative, you would want to wait another week and then test them again to make sure that they’re still negative. Then you would want to move them as quickly as possible into a separate quarantine zone.”

According to Binney, if the UFC wants to follow his recommendation, the promotion right now. Everyone involved in the event would need to follow the quarantine plans including the commentators and medical staff.

Once everyone is in the final quarantine area, the UFC would need to supply living and training areas and the event location. No one could leave that area before the event. If someone steps outside the secured areas, they would need to go back through the two-week quarantine period.

That someone can just walk up to the arena and get scanned and enter the building on fight night does not provide an adequate amount of safety. 

“A lot of people think it’s just, you go, stand just outside the quarantine zone, you get tested, you’re clear, they let you in,“ said Binney. “That’s not sufficient based on the situation that we have on the ground right now because there’s too high a risk that somebody has the virus, that they just acquired it out in the world.”

Another thing to consider is the level of quarantine the fighters would need to go through. 

“I want to emphasize that isolation is not just what you and I are doing right now. It’s got to be more intense than that,” said Binney. “They can’t leave where they are. Anybody that they’re with, if they’re isolating with their families, their family members cannot leave that house. They have to have everything delivered to them, and everything that’s delivered has to be completely disinfected. The only time they should have contact with another human is if it’s necessary for the COVID-19 test itself.”

The precautions that Binney spoke about were only focused on those who would be inside the building during a UFC event. Another thing to consider is if the athletes need medical care during their training or after they compete. 

“There’s also the danger of if a UFC fighter has to be transported to the hospital, that’s dangerous in two ways: It could further overwhelm a hospital that’s dealing with a lot of COVID cases, or it could put that fighter at high risk for contracting COVID-19 in a healthcare facility because we know that that’s one of the ways the disease is transmitted,” said Binney.

Despite the challenges, Binney feels the UFC might have an easier time in staging an event than other major sports because there are fewer moving parts to consider. 

“Right now with the situation the way it is in the United States, you really have to do this kind of full biodome or nothing,” said Binney. “That biodome is easier if it’s 75 people for a UFC event rather than thousands for a Major League Baseball season. Scaling it down does make a difference, but you still have to do it right.”

The UFC was asked about its testing plan for UFC 249, which is scheduled for May 9. The promotion had not responded at publication time.