Brown Tests Positive For Covid-19, Won’t Corner Masvidal

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Jorge Masvidal will be down one of his coaches when he faces Kamaru Usman for the Welterweight title this Sat. night (July 11, 2020) at UFC 251 in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, as Mike Brown has tested positive for COVID-19 and won’t make the trip to “Fight Island.”

The new was first reported by Combate, and later confirmed by Brown himself to MMA Fighting.

The former “Coach of the Year” most recently cornered Dustin Poirier at UFC on ESPN 12 against Dan Hooker in what proved to be the leading “Fight of the Year” contender. That fight took place in Las Vegas, Nevada, though Brown has returned to Florida since then.

The positive result is just the latest that has plagued “Fight Island,” as Gilbert Burns was forced out of his scheduled tile fight against Usman after he also produced a positive coronavirus result. Plus, Pedro Munhoz — who spends his time training at American Top Team (ATT) where Brown does his coaching — was forced to bow out of his fight against Frankie Edgar after testing positive, too.

Per the report, fellow ATT coach, Gabriel Oliveira, also tested positive for COVID_19 after returning from Las Vegas. All four of the aforementioned men all live in Florida, one of the four current hot spots in America with the highest surge in coronavirus cases, with California, Texas and Arizona being the others.

For the finalized UFC 251 fight card and line up click here.