March 12th was the historic day almost all major sports leagues around the globe were forced to shut down due to the threat of COVID-19.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6fQjYKJmgQ
The NBA, MLB, NFL, and NHL all announced postponements or cancellations on the same day. Since then, the lower leagues in each sport followed suit with cancellations or postponements of their own.
On March 22nd the International Olympic Committee announced the postponement of the Olympic Games, and by March 30th they determined they would begin on July 23rd of 2021.
Now, it looks like sports will be on pause until at least September. That is everyone but Dana White and the UFC.
On March 13th, White announced he planned to move forward with all of the scheduled live events while accommodating the demands of the COVID-19 virus.
“Unfortunately, fans may not be allowed to attend the events. Now, you know I hate this but, the decision has been made in the best interest of everybody involved with our events.”
White said in a Youtube video addressing the media and fans.
With gatherings of over 5 currently banned, a lot of changes will have to be made in terms of who is allowed in and around the cage during each fight. Automatically there is the 2 fighters and referee in the octagon. During a regular fight, the athlete would have a cut man and multiple coaches yelling instructions.
In this unique case, the fighters will only be allowed one person in each of their corners, meaning the fighter will either have no coach or no cut man. It could be possible to mic up the cut man and have the coach tell him instructions while watching from a remote location.
Photo Credit: // Bleacher Report
Other officials that will be forced to watch from a remote location would be the judges. Most of the MMA community feel this is a positive coming out of this. Judges are usually watching the fight ring side at one angle. This will give the judges an opportunity to see things they were unable to before.
For this to work the production will have to find creative angles that will be affective for broadcast. During a regular UFC event, multiple cameraman sit at each corner of the octagon giving the fans at home plenty of opportunity to see everything going on in the bout. On this occasion, they will have to find affective angles and mount the cameras in still positions.
Photo Credit: // Bleacher Report
The UFC President was criticized from the beginning as he initially brushed off the dangers of the pandemic that is now affecting everyone across the globe. Since then, he has doubled down on his feelings saying;
“The media can talk as much s— as they want. They don’t feed families. They don’t take care of f—— people. They don’t have people that count on them. They don’t have people to support.”
This is in reference to a fighter’s contract. They work like most other personal performance contracts. Both parties will agree to an X amount of money for an X amount of fights with bonuses available.
However, the fighters act as independent contractors with no medical benefits and the UFC can cut them at any time.
This is where the major ethical question lies, should we stop these fighters from providing for their families? Most of the American citizens are already in a situation where they can no longer do so.
If the company boss is so adamant in pursuing these events, you can’t knock the fighters for guaranteeing 6 months’ worth of food on their table for the family.
As of now it is unclear whether the UFC will test the athletes, trainers, and staff for COVID-19 as they plan to restart its events on April 18th.
“We’re doing the right thing as far as medical testing goes and everything. That’s all we f—— do. That’s nothing new. We were doing that s— way before the coronavirus. We were taking care of people and making sure that everybody’s healthy, and every fighter that’s with me on the road is getting much better medical attention than they are at home — if they’re with me.”
Photo Credit: // MMA JUNKIE
Sam “Hands of Stone” Stout is a 20-fight UFC Lightweight veteran who has been locked in the cage with some of the top Mixed Marital Artists of his era including Kenny Florian, Yves Edwards, Joe Lauzon, and Jeremy Stephens.
Since then, Stout has spent his time in London passing along his professional experience to young aspiring Mixed Martial Artists at the Adrenaline MMA training facility he co-founded.
Stout began his UFC tenor in The Ultimate Fighter season 3, a gateway into the UFC’s big shows.
Hands of Stone fought his way into the finals where he met Kenny Florian. Fighting in front of a crowd of less than 200, Stout eventually lost via submission from a rear naked choke in the first round.
This is the closest a UFC fighter has gotten to fighting in front of no crowd. Excluding the UFC’s last event on March 14th, and now the scheduled event on April, 18th will add to that list.
Fast forward almost 3 years later, Stout earned a unanimous decision victory and the fight of the night bonus at the Bell centre in Montreal in front of a crowd over 22,000.
Stout said the energy in the building had a positive impact on him.
“Fighting Kenny Florian in front of a smaller crowd then say the Bell Centre in front of 22,000 makes a difference during a walk out [for me]. But once the fight started the crowd never really entered my thoughts. It was like the only two people that existed were myself and my opponent.”
The prospect of no crowd is very unusually for Stout to imagine.
“It’s hard to say because I have never done it. I would imagine it would be strange more than anything. I think it would have been bitter sweet for me. I always got pumped up by the sound of the crowd but on the plus side it would make it very easy to hear instructions from your coach.”
Dana White has announced the main event and is set to name the rest of the fighters set to be involved on the UFC 249 card schedueld for April 18th.
https://twitter.com/danawhite/status/1247244231778775041
The average UFC fighters training camp last 8-10 weeks. Short notice fights take place in the UFC all the time, but almost an entire card getting two weeks’ notice is new territory for the 4-billion-dollar company.
Photo Credit: // MMA FIGHTING
Stout says as a fighter, you are always prepared.
“I think all fighters that will be on the card have some idea that they might be getting the call so I’m sure they will all be in shape and ready to go. Especially since a lot of them will probably be taken from the cards that have recently been cancelled.”
Dana White’s biggest obstacle in all of this is finding a venue. Many large Athletic commissions across the U.S.A have suspended combat sports including the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) and the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC).
However, the Nevada State Athletic Commission has sanctioned the most UFC fights announced all licensing was revoked until March, 25th. It is now April, 6th and the commission has not given another update since. Meaning the UFC’s home turf seems to be up for grabs, however the rumours are saying it will take place somewhere along the west coast.
As most UFC fans are, Stout is eager to watch fights. But the way Dana White has approached the situation seems like all he can see is dollar signs.
“I see why people are upset that Dana is doing this card during this pandemic. Is does set a bit of a bad example, but as long as all the proper precautions are being taken, like screening for everyone involved then I am okay with it. After all, I want to see a fit as bad as anyone…and I can see Dana’s motivation, this will probably shatter every record pay per view sales.”
The notorious money driven leader seems to be motivated by the viewing factor of this card, which has the public more than skeptical about an already messy situation.
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