From the Olympics to Euro 2020, COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic has affected every sport and MMA is no different.
Due to measures to limit the spread of the virus in the best interests of public health, the UFC was forced to postpone its events in London, Columbus and Portland.
UFC President Dana White has said that the UFC will return to action for UFC 249 as scheduled on 18 April, but is yet to announce the location of the event headlined by a UFC lightweight championship bout pitting Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson.
Daniel Cormier, Nurmagomedov’s training partner at the American Kickboxing Academy, says he has also heard that the fight is going to go ahead.
“I hear that the fight is still happening,” Cormier told Michael Bisping on his “Believe You Me” podcast. “I haven’t heard that it’s not. So we operate under the assumption that it’s still going to happen on April 18.
“I don’t know how, I don’t know where, but until Dana comes out and says it’s off, I’m gonna believe that I get to watch Khabib fight Tony on April 18 from wherever in the world that they’re gonna allow a fight to happen.”
Cormier also said that when the UFC gets back to full swing, it could be a fun time to be a fighter contracted to the promotion as it makes up for lost time.
“You know what you can look forward to as an athlete is knowing that when the UFC returns, you’re going to be a part of some massive fight cards,” Cormier said. “All these fights have to happen, and as long as the UFC is on pause, the UFC is not making any money.
“So when the UFC comes back, they have to make all that money that’s supposed to be made over the course of the year, so they’re going to put on massive fight cards every single week until the end of the year and I cannot wait to be a part of it.
“Superfight after superfight after superfight, super fight card after super fight card, super card, super card. It’s gonna be like the UFC back in the day when there was one every couple of months and you got massive cards every time.”
