Manager: ‘Thug Rose’ Lost Two Family Members To Coronavirus

Photo by Brandon Magnus/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) strawweight champion, Rose Namajunas, recently withdrew from the UFC 249 pay-per-view (PPV) co-main event on April 18, where she was scheduled to rematch fellow ex-titleholder, Jessica Andrade.

And because this is mixed martial arts (MMA) and most fans are generally awful, “Thug Rose” was accused of being scared or perhaps mentally unfit to compete. There was also speculation that coronavirus had Namajunas hiding at home.

Not quite.

“Rose Namajunas withdrew from UFC 249 due to two deaths in the family related to the coronavirus,” her management wrote on social media. “Her hopes are to return to the Octagon as soon as possible but for now we ask for people to respect her privacy during this time.”

Sadly, she’s not alone.

Most sports on both the collegiate and professional levels have shut down operations in an attempt to “flatten the curve” as coronavirus continues to spread. UFC, however, needs to get paid and will soldier on — in spite of “major concerns” — and take its UFC 249 fight card to the tribal lands of the west coast.

See the revised UFC 249 line up right here.