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UFC returns behind closed doors on Saturday
Promoters from other sports have suggested the championship is being reckless despite safety measures
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The Ultimate Fighting Championship will, on Saturday night, become the first sport in America to return from Coronavirus.
Twelve pairs of competing mixed martial artists have undergone daily nasal swab tests since arrival in a sealed-off hotel in Jacksonville, Florida.
The event will take place behind closed doors, with minimal staff and television crews. Dana White, president of the UFC, stated this week that safety of fighters and staff remains paramount.
The event is likely to provide an test for other combat sports organisations to return, although the boxing promoter Bob Arum criticised the timing of the return, labelling it "cowboy behaviour". However, rival boxing promoter Oscar De La Hoya has commended White for attempting to make the event work, and boxing promoters in the UK and USA plan a return to small events in mid-July.
The UFC, which will hold three events in eight days at the same venue in Jacksonville, estimate that 1,200 Covid-19 nasal swab tests will have been undertaken by May 16, the final night of the event.
The UFC card is a pay-per-view event on BT Sport in the UK and on ESPN in the United States.
The event was initially scheduled for April 18 in Brooklyn, New York, but postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak. An attempt to move it to tribal lands in California was cancelled when the UFC came under pressure from leasing executives at Disney, which owns the UFC's American broadcast partner ESPN.
Dan Hardy, the retired former UFC world title challenger, from Nottingham, said: "I certainly think lots of different sports and promoters will be watching this. Team sports and anything in front of an audience would be foolish at this point. But you can get a couple of guys playing snooker, playing tennis, a couple of guys fighting.
"There are things that can be done with very minimum impact and great output. The UFC has always been the spearhead in these things and others will be looking at this and thinking, 'Ok, let's see how they did it and see what we are capable of doing."
Fighters, such as headliner Tony Ferguson who meets fellow American Justin Gaethje, have given virtual press conferences this week.
“I don’t feel any different. Obviously we don’t have any fans. The only reason everything else is like this, the only reason we’re fighting, is for the fans." said Henry Cejudo, a former Olympic wrestling champion who puts his bantamweight title on the line against Dominick Cruz in the co-main event.
Cejudo said he was tested within 15 minutes of arriving at his hotel. “It doesn’t matter if there’s two people in the stands, or nobody in the stands, or two billion people in the stands, I’ve got to get the job done.”