JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Generally speaking, UFC president Dana White is happy with the COVID-19 testing system his promotion instituted for UFC 249 fight week.
Friday night, middleweight Ronaldo Souza, became the first promotional fighter to test positive for COVID-19 as result of a UFC-run test. “Jacare” Souza was scheduled to fight Uriah Hall on the UFC 249 prelims. Instead, he and two of his corners found out coronavirus was in their system – and were sent home.
“We found out last night,” White said, at a UFC 249 press conference following the conclusion of Saturday’s event. “The whole world is weird right now. Everything is weird. This whole event is weird. It’s different. We live in a different world than we did two months ago. The bottom line is the system worked. What you don’t want to do is two days after the fight say, ‘Oh (expletive), ‘Jacare’ tested positive. So it worked. The system worked that we put in place.”
Upon his arrival in Jacksonville on Wednesday, Souza, 40, notified UFC testing staff a family member had previously had COVID-19. Friday night, Souza was notified he tested positive.
White was asked if there was any thought of initially sending Souza home instead of having him stay 48 hours at the host hotel among the other fighters?
“This guy was with the people he was with the entire time,” White said. “We kept him away from people and now we know that he has it. He tested positive. We tested him. We know he has it. Now we can help him, too. Whatever this guy is going to need, we know he’s positive and we can help him and is family. I don’t know what he’s going to need medically.
“That’s the other thing. When we’re testing all of our employees and all of our fighters, we’ll find out who has this thing and we can help them.”
Admittedly, White said there’s room to improve. Like most first-time experiences, White said tweaks can be made to improve. He expects the upcoming events on Wednesday, May 13 and Saturday, May 16 to run even smoother.
“The way that this week went will just get better,” White said. “We’ll get better by Wednesday. Then, we’ll be better by Saturday. Then after Saturday, we’ll start to catch our stride and really get this thing dialed in and get it figured out. The longer this goes, the better the testing technology is going to get and the faster it will get. We’re going to prove by next Saturday that professional sports can come back safely.”
UFC 249 takes place Saturday at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.
Dana White details 'Jacare' Souza's positive COVID-19 test: 'The bottom line is the system worked'
