Days after Dana White was undeterred in finding homes for UFC events amid the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, the promoter met his match Monday as he emailed employees telling them their next three shows have been canceled and the offices are closed through the end of the month.
Those three shows are this Saturday’s event originally scheduled for London, England, the following Saturday headlined by Francis Ngannou vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik, and the following Saturday which featured Alistair Overeem vs. Walt Harris.
The UFC has yet to officially announce the cancellations as of this writing. The news was originally broken by FightMetric’s Michael Carroll.
We’ve been doing everything possible to stick to our live events schedule because the fighters want to fight, our employees want to work, and the fans want to watch our sport.
So many people have reached out over the past few days to say thanks for not canceling our Brasilia event on Saturday. When weird things happen in the world, or when there’s a tragedy, like the October 1 shooting, people want things to get back to normal, and nothing feels more normal than watching sports.
We did everything we could to relocate our next three events– London, Columbus, and Portland. But every day, there are new restrictions put in place on travel and large public gatherings that are making it impossible to stay on schedule. We can’t even hold an event in Vegas, our home town, because there’s a ban on all combat sports events in Nevada until at least March 25.
As you heard me say, I’ve been in the fight game for 20 years, and this is what we do—we find a way to keep our events going no matter what. If fighters miss weight, if fighters get hurt, or if states won’t regulate us, we figure out a way. But this is different. The whole world is being affected right now, and nothing is more important than the health and safety of you and your families.
That’s why we are closing all UFC offices effective immediately, including HQ in Vegas, through at least March 31st, and asking all employees to work from home. The PI will also be closed to all personnel, including athletes, during this time. The next three events– London, Columbus, and Portland—will be postponed. UFC 249 is still scheduled as planned, but the location may change. We’ll keep you posted.
I tell you guys all the time, you are the BEST TO EVER DO IT. It feels shitty now, but WE WILL GET THROUGH THIS, and we’ll be TOUGHER, STRONGER, AND MORE BADASS than before.
Right now, the number one priority is to take care of yourselves and your family.
Finally, I want you to know that UFC has your back. If you or any member of your family is showing symptoms of coronavirus and you’re having trouble getting to a doctor, please reach out to me, Lawrence, or Hunter.
Thanks.
Dana”
White had spoken on SportsCenter several times about his desire to keep putting on cards despite the ongoing medical crisis. The company ran an empty arena show in Brasilia, Brazil, this past Saturday and were hoping to use their Las Vegas-based APEX facility for the aforementioned shows. However, a Nevada state mandate banning combat sports shows through March 25th, and a meeting on the 25th to determine extending that deadline, halted those efforts.
Assuming the cancellations hold, the next UFC show would be UFC 249, a show originally scheduled for Brooklyn, NY. They can’t host the show due to a state large gathering mandate, and White said he had hoped to have two venues to choose from as of Sunday morning. Lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson is set to headline.
Complicating that effort is the Center for Disease Control’s suggestion that all mass gatherings of more than 50 people be canceled for the next eight weeks.
Following the lead of most in their industry, Impact Wrestling announced Monday that two upcoming March events have been postponed.
Lockdown, an Impact Plus event scheduled for March 28th in Windsor, Ontario, and March Breakdown, a Twitch show scheduled for March 29th in Belleville, MI, were both postponed with no rescheduled dates.
Additionally, they said they are monitoring the ongoing coronavirus epidemic, “reviewing the recommendations from the appropriate government agencies and local communities” with relation to their two April shows: their throwback show schedule for April 3rd of WrestleMania week in Tampa, FL, and Rebellion, set for April 19th in New York City.
It’s expected that when/if WrestleMania is postponed by WWE or Florida’s Hillsborough County, the April 3rd event will be postponed as well.
The company also has shows scheduled for April 17th in Mississauga, ON, and two shows for late-April in Columbus, OH, which were not mentioned.
Roster member Ethan Page tweeted that despite the cancellations, the company is paying their talent their rates for each cancelled show.
Are you interested in attending our annual F4W/WON convention? We will hold it during AEW Double or Nothing weekend. For more information, check this post for activities and prices.
A story on the Corona Virus and pro wrestling and MMA shows around the world is the lead story in a double-issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter this week.
We go through:
Where everything stood at press time for large and small promotions all over the world, as well as other sports.
Which companies can survive this period the best and how this threatens the future of many companies and wrestlers, a well as WWE and other name indie talent that likely can’t be coming to the U.S. because of travel bans.
This is one of the biggest stories to have faced the world in our lifetime, and it affects every business, but sports and entertainment businesses, like all, will take an unforeseen shock.
The issue also covers:
Rob Gronkowski and WWE, what is believed to be the extent of the deal, who is Gronkowski, his prior experience in WWE, what he had said about doing pro wrestling in the past and what kind of impact his being in WWE could have.
The series of copycat lawsuits filed by a number of legal firms against WWE, the claims in the cases and a response by Jerry McDevitt to the cases.
The situation with David Starr being pressured out of wXw and Progress, the attempt to unionize wrestlers in the U.K. and companies that have jumped on board.
Full coverage of the Elimination Chamber show with notes on the show, updated plans for WrestleMania, business notes and match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.
Update WWE PPV talks, Davey Boy Smith in Hall of Fame, salary of WWE’s top executives, the change in Paul Levesque’s backstage role, how talent contracts have changed, who owns the most WWE stock, XFL ratings and how this week changed the narrative, Cena movie delayed by a year of release due to Corona Virus, Rousey in WWE offices, change that was made in Friday tapings, Canadian ratings, UFC star talks about doing WWE, injury updates, more on a new athlete that just started, plus he most-watched shows on the WWE Network and details of all NXT & WWE arena events over the past week.
An extensive feature on Wayne Bridges, one of the biggest names in European pro wrestling during the 70s and 80s. We look at his sports background before pro wrestling, how he could into pro wrestling, his unique role in some major movies, his Japanese tours and his time in North America, the history of the world heavyweight title as recognized in the U.K., plus his biggest run as world heavyweight champion, appearing on the big Wembley and Royal Albert Hall shows, tragedies in his life and much more. This is a great history piece about an era of pro wrestling that a lot of U.S. fans aren’t aware of.
Complete coverage of UFC 248, including the show, what happens next, the judging, who the media thought won the key fights, and business notes.
Oregon wrestling in the 80s and its top heel, Rip “The Crippler” Oliver, who passed away last week. We look at the atmosphere when he first arrived, his life and career before Oregon, his attempts to leave and why he always ended up back, his records set, biggest feuds, extensive title history, the 1982 tag team tournament at the Omni in Atlanta,Billy Jack Haynes, Roddy Piper, Buddy Rose and the death of the Don Owen territory.
Update the situation with Scott Steiner.
End of an era, as after 41 years, Stu Sacks leaves Pro Wrestling Illustrated and a career in wrestling journalism that goes back 50 years to his childhood.
Regarding the Wednesday numbers, we’ve got full details, demos that each side won, how every segment did and what match ended up as the difference maker.
All the WWE and AEW television shows from the past week.
In-depth looks at the ratings of all the major shows, the key demos and quarters for AEW and WWE, what happened head-to-head and what can be learned from them.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
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SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE
I guess the No. 1 thing today is to give everyone you know some moral support; this situation has escalated badly and it’s like Tuesday was a lifetime ago. This will pass in time, I’m sure we’ll have memories of this week for the rest of our lives very distinctly. This is the time where everyone has to stick together for the common good. I just hope politicians, and this goes for both sides of the aisle, drop the game playing because agendas right now are totally meaningless when it comes to the big picture. For people with legit power, this is the time that heroes are made, and hopefully, right now it is workers in key fields that are the most affected that need to be protected as well as small businesses.
This disease first came from China as best we know. This site for whatever reason is very fortunate to have so many people from all over the world, experts in respective fields and we have been very lucky that they have been so willing to give of their time and knowledge. Dr. Alex Patel of course has helped out tremendously as have other doctors. This is from a reader in China, and hopefully this is positive news as far as the time frame we are looking at:
I’m from England but have lived in Zhangjiagang, China a city of about 1.5 million for nearly six years. It’s about two hours away from Shanghai. Reports started coming here about it around Jan 18th and by the time I came back from holiday on Feb 1st the virus had taken hold so every person coming in had to self quarantine for 14 days. That’s still the case today but they have reduced it to 7 days unless someone on your plane had the virus.
In terms of what it’s like now in my province, shopping centres and parks opened back up in the last week of February. Shops had reduced hours from 10am to 5pm. Just this weekend that was expanded to 8am-8pm. Restaurants opened back up last week. They are open til 10pm with seats moved apart 2 meters from each other and one member of the group has to leave their name and phone number in case anything happens. The things that are still shut here are large entertainment facilities like cinemas, bars and karaoke. The schools are still shut and will remain so until at least April. Aside from that it’s pretty much back to normal here except everyone is obviously wearing masks in public.
Cody Rhodes tweeted about doing a six-man tag on an empty arena show Wednesday which was the match to determine who would get the man advantage in Blood & Guts. Right now WWE is still doing empty arena shows on Monday, Wednesday and Friday this week, AEW on Wednesday, while UFC is looking for an arena somewhere to do upcoming shows since Nevada put a stop to their show this coming Saturday at least.
The Nevada commission meets on the 25th to determine whether they will allow shows after the 25th to go on. UFC looks like they don’t believe they will be allowed to run at their APEX arena on their campus and are looking for a spot for Saturday, 3/28, 4/11 and 4/18 at this point since none of those shows can take place in the locations first booked.
Leon Edwards, who was to face Tyron Woodley in the main event this coming Saturday, is not coming since he would have to fly out of England. Colby Covington has said he would face Woodley on no notice. Since so many of the fighters on Saturday’s show were from Europe and can’t come in, UFC is scrambling to get new fighters with guys both under contract and perhaps free agents. Dana White is not coming off well at all.
Vince McMahon was not at the show on Friday.
The Australian government has placed a 14 day mandatory self-isolation period for anyone, including citizens, coming to the country. Unless that restriction is dropped by June, that will kill the World Series Wrestling tour as well as all tours from international wrestlers. Japanese wrestler Yuu was to work this weekend but couldn’t get into the country.
UFC’s Fight Night was the seventh most searched topic in the country yesterday with 100,000 searches. Conor McGregor was No. 8 for clarifying that his aunt who just died did not die of the coronavirus. His first mention of his aunt’s death strongly implied that she did.
WWE
Steve Austin, Edge and Undertaker (for a contract signing with A.J. Styles) are all scheduled for tomorrow night’s Raw show.
Jerry Lawler was on Cerrito Live arguing with the host about the Coronavirus. The host is very concerned about Lawler flying to Orlando tomorrow for Raw and well, at 34:00 you can see Lawler blowing it off.
WWE has told talent that if they aren’t comfortable coming for tapings right now they didn’t have to come and there would be no repercussions.
Reelz will be airing autopsy shows on the last hours of the life of Chyna at 7 p.m. Eastern tonight, and Chris Benoit at both 8 p.m. and 11 p.m.
Impact has had to move its Lockdown show scheduled for 3/28 at St. Clair College in Windsor, ONT since the college is closing everything down.
House of Hardcore announced its 4/11 show at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia and the Icons of Wrestling convention that afternoon have been postponed.
The 3/26 world premiere of the documentary on the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles has been postponed.
Melbourne City Wrestling canceled Saturday’s show. They would have been under the government’s 500 person limit for such an event, but they made the call to cancel anyway.
As of last word, PWA on 3/20 is Sydney, Australia is still on and will air live on OvoPlay at 5 a.m. Eastern.
Australian Wrestling League on 3/21 on the Gold Coast has been canceled.
PCW did a stadium show last night in Melbourne before 1,500 fans (the 500 person limit is a recommendation and they have no agency outright banning): Nate Cross b Casss Stone to win the Ignition title, Charlie Matthews won over Syd Parker, Waik and JJ Furno, Black Diamonds b Stallions, Sammy Falcon b Lucas Daniels, Mark Kage b Ryan Rapid in a TLC match, Ryan Rapid won Rumble. PCW owns their regular venue and at this point all events are still going on (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
CWE is still running 3/29 in Saskatoon, SK at JT’s Bar and Grill with Savio Vega as the headliner.
CZW and WSU will be running empty arenas shows today and on 3/21, which will both air on FITE.TV and IndependentWrestling.tv The WSU show ran this afternoon.
Mid Missouri Wrestling Alliance ran last night in St. Louis at the South Broadway Athletic Club: Bobby D b Freddy Fury, Ricky Cruz b Damion Cortese, Damian Blade b Keith Smith Jr., Frankie D b Waco, Gary Jackson b Ryan Ash, Moondog Rover b Attila Khan-DQ, Rick Ruby b Jimmy D (thanks to Patrick Brandmeyer)
Limitless Wrestling on 3/21 in Yarmouth, ME which sold out 250 tickets is still scheduled. (thanks to Philip Laine)
In a week of bizarre circumstances due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, one of the more heated rivalries in UFC could boil over this weekend in a location that still hasn’t been determined yet.
Former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley was scheduled to fight Leon Edwards this Saturday in London, but due to the impending mass gathering ban and travel restrictions there, UFC leadership decided to pull the event and find a new location in the U.S. instead.
Enter the controversial Colby Covington, who tweeted that he would like to face Woodley and “beat the f*ck” out of him on ESPN next week. He is recovering from a broken jaw suffered in his December 2019 loss to current welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, but has had heat with Woodley for some time. Dana White tried to make that fight several times in 2019, but was unable to do so. It’s unclear if Covington is medically cleared following that broken jaw.
ESPN’s Ariel Helwani tweeted that he has spoken with Woodley who was unware Edwards had to pull out as he’s turned off social media. However, he told his management he would like to fight Covington and Covington turned down the fight although Helwani said the fight possibility is very much alive. Gilbert Burns, who just knocked out Demian Maia Saturday in Brazil, also offered to fight Woodley.
The complicating factor is where to actually put on a show as Las Vegas is unavailable due to a Nevada state ban on combat sports. Helwani said UFC is “hell bent” on making their future shows happen, something White hammered home last night on SportsCenter.
The card that will happen also will look quite different as many of the UK and European fighters on the show cannot make the trip due to the travel ban. UFC matchmakers put out an email to agents earlier today and have plenty of interested parties ready to fight, undeterred by the health risks and lack of a publicly outlined COVID-19 testing plan by the UFC.
Two days after running a TV taping in Tijuana, Mexico, Major League Wrestling announced they have rescheduled their April Elimination Games event to June instead due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The Chicago, IL, TV taping at Cicero Stadium was moved from Saturday, April 18th to Friday, June 12th, with all purchased tickets honored.
MLW’s next event is a TV taping at Dallas, Texas’ NYTEX Sports Center on Saturday, May 2nd. That is just outside a 45-day window the promotion said they will not run live events in at which time they will reassess their upcoming schedule which calls for one event per month.
Their weekly hour-long Fusion TV product will continue on BeIn Sports and YouTube as they are currently airing matches taped at their recent Philadelphia, PA, Fightland event with Friday’s MLW vs. AAA event taped in Tijuana coming after that.
MLW has been shopping around for a new TV partner, the main reason owner Court Bauer was not in Mexico Friday. Dave Meltzer added the following:
“He said he discussed the situation with his television partners and felt empty arena shows don’t work after watching SmackDown. Even if they did, it’s not something his company could risk doing. The current plan if they can’t return to taping soon would be to do personality profile shows on their top talent through June, and then using archival content, including going back to the original MLW from the early 00s, in July. Bauer noted that New York has a quarantine zone just a half mile from their office in New Rochelle, NY.”
Despite mass gathering bans and travel restrictions amid the worldwide coronavirus epidemic, the UFC remains undeterred in continuing to operate in a business as usual fashion.
UFC president Dana White appeared on SportsCenter Saturday night (video below) to address the recent changes in Las Vegas where Nevada has suspended all combat sports events as well as a decision to move this Saturday’s London, England, show, likely to a location in the United States.
With regard to UFC 249 on April 18th headlined by lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson, White said that show cannot go forward as planned in Brooklyn, NY, due to the state’s mass gathering ban. White hoped by 10 AM Eastern Sunday, he will have two venue options and the show will happen as planned.
“We will keep finding a way to put on the fights. I’m in the fight business. I’ve been doing this for over 20 years and this stuff happens to me every weekend, so I’m used to this stuff. Not at this level obviously, but this is what we do. This is what we do and we always make sure the fights happen and they’re going to continue to happen,” White said.
UFC, owned by Endeavor, had planned to run two upcoming shows at their APEX facility in Las Vegas, NV, but the Saturday development on the combat sports ban prevented it. With most states and countries enacting various mass gathering bans in an attempt to curb the spread of the virus, the UFC will seemingly have to go the route of empty arena shows if they are to keep running.
The last major promotion that was still running regular events in front of live crowds has shut down.
CMLL, the world’s oldest wrestling company, announced today that effective immediately, starting with tonight’s show at Arena Coliseo in Mexico City, everything is on hold. They had already announced late last night that their Guadalajara shows on Sundays and Tuesdays were off.
Shows announced as well for tomorrow, Tuesday and Friday at Arena Mexico, the famed cathedral of Lucha Libre, are canceled. This coming Friday’s show was one of their biggest events of the year, El Homeaje a Dos Leyendas, built around Felino vs. Cavernario in a hair vs. hair match.
Lucha Libre AAA’s Rey de Reyes event, which was scheduled for March 21 in Merida, has also been postponed.
It now appears that last night’s show at Arena Mexico will be the last pro wrestling event before a live crowd for the current time period.
If the UFC thought they were going to be the exception to the sports rule during the coronavirus outbreak, they might be badly mistaken.
As their UFC Brasilia, Brazil, event was happening in front of an empty arena Saturday afternoon, news broke that the Nevada Athletic Commission will discuss the indefinite suspension of all combat sports at their upcoming March 25th meeting:
From the NAC emergency meeting agenda. Whatever they’re deciding today is heading into their regular meeting on the 25th. Let’s not assume anything beyond March 25 is off until we actually hear what they have to say. pic.twitter.com/GXZkotCm6y
In the immediate term, that would include two UFC shows that were rescheduled to the company’s APEX facility, originally set for March 28th (Columbus, OH) and April 11 (Portland, OR). If a suspension decision is made coming out of the meeting, that would complicate things for fighters preparing for competition just three days later.
In a statement to ESPN, NAC executive director Bob Bennett said, “I’ve been in constant contact with a litany of doctors and medical professionals and am intimately familiar with most professional and amateur sports events being suspended at this point in time for an undetermined period. I will continue to collect information and speak with various medical experts and be prepared to provide the information to the chairman and commissioners on March 25.”
UFC president Dana White has come under fire since announcing that the company planned to soldier on with empty arena shows including today’s event and next Saturday’s show in London, England, which White said would “proceed as planned” with fans in attendance. That decision was made despite the majority of the sports world shutting down as it deals with the worldwide coronavirus epidemic and the UFC not clearly announcing any plan to test their athletes for the COVID-19 virus.
While UFC fighters from the U.S. arrive in London, there are major questions surrounding the updated travel ban U.S. President Donald Trump announced Saturday which now includes the United Kingdom. Additionally, the UK government is set to announce mass gathering bans which would prohibit fans from entering the O2 Arena. It’s unclear if the event would be allowed to go on with an empty arena.
In a free edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer and guest host Garrett Gonzales discuss the coronavirus outbreak, the best ways to find information, social distancing, how the virus affects the still-going worlds of pro wrestling and MMA, some listener questions, and more.
As always, please consult your personal doctor/physician for specific medical advice related to any condition.
Wrestling Observer Radio with Dave Meltzer and myself, guest co-host Garrett Gonzales, is back. Joining us is Dr. Alex Patel to talk about the coronavirus.
Dr. Patel talks about flattening the curve, how the virus spreads, what other virus it resembles, where to find good resources for information to avoid misinformation, social distancing, and how it affects future pro wrestling and MMA events.
Dave and I talk about the latest information about WrestleMania 36, this weekend’s UFC show, AEW Dynamite, Raw, Smackdown, NXT, the oddness of Wednesday night’s ratings, and what happens to the Observer if the news slows down.
Timestamps:
Start: Dr. Alex Patel on the coronavirus
36:32: The last few days
47:50: AEW, WWE, UFC still running
51:38: Possible focus on future Observer issues
56:44: AEW/NXT ratings
59:36: UFC
1:01:24: Boxing, general thoughts on the effects of no wrestling or MMA
AEW has relocated two of their upcoming Dynamite episodes due to the corona virus outbreak.
In a social media post, the company released rescheduled dates and information for their upcoming shows in Milwaukee and St. Louis.
The St. Louis show, which was scheduled to take place on April 8, will now be held on October 7 at the Chaifetz Arena. The Milwaukee show, which was scheduled for April 1, will now be held on October 28 at the UWM Panther Arena.
AEW wrote that the April 1 and April 8 episodes of Dynamite will still air live on TNT, but will be relocated. It is currently unknown where the shows will be held.
Fans who have bought tickets for these shows will be offered a refund at the point of purchase, or can have their current ticket honored at the rescheduled dates. Additional details will be released in the future.
The next episode of Dynamite is currently scheduled to take place in Jacksonville, Florida at the Daily’s Place and will be managed under a restricted attendance policy.
A day after announcing tonight’s show at Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun would still be held but without fans in the seats, Bellator MMA changed course mid-Friday afternoon, postponing Bellator 241 due to the ongoing coronavirus epidemic.
We would like to apologize to our athletes and fans, as well as our broadcast partner DAZN, but we feel this is the best decision to be made at this time.
The main event was scheduled to be featherweight champion Patricio “Pitbull” Freire vs. Pedro Carvalho in addition to Daniel Weichel vs. Emmanuel Sanchez, both featherweight Grand Prix bouts. They did not announce a makeup date.
Bellator’s schedule lightens up considerably after Friday with no scheduled shows until May 9th which kicks off a three event month for them.
As of this writing, UFC is powering ahead with their schedule of shows, holding Saturday’s Brasilia, Brazil, ESPN event in an empty arena. Dana White said in a video Thursday night that their March 21st London event is moving ahead as planned while their Columbus, OH, event (March 28th) and Portland, OR, event (April 11th) will be moved to their Las Vegas-based APEX facility.
Both WWE house shows scheduled for this weekend have been canceled in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
The Coca-Cola Coliseum in Toronto, Canada released the following statement: “The WWE Live Road to WrestleMania SuperShow event scheduled for this Saturday, March 14 at Coca-Cola Coliseum in Toronto has been cancelled. Refunds are available at all points of purchase.”
The Covelli Centre, which was scheduled to run the Sunday house show in Youngstown, posted the following statement on their Facebook page: “In accordance with the proclamation issued by Governor DeWine, the WWE live event scheduled for this Sunday, March 15 in Youngstown, Ohio has been canceled. Refunds are available at all points of purchase.”
Mike DeWine, governor of Ohio, has issued an order requiring there to be no spectators at indoor events. A UFC event scheduled for Columbus on March 28 is currently in question.
The spread of the coronavirus has had a huge effect on the pro wrestling and MMA industries, with most major shows being pulled. SmackDown, which was scheduled to take place tomorrow in Detroit, Michigan will instead be held at the WWE Performance Center in Florida with no audience. Paige and John Cena were originally advertised for the show.
While the UFC has yet to make an official announcement about Saturday’s show in Brasilia, Brazil, the event will go on as planned but with no fans in the arena.
On Wednesday, Federal District governor Ibaneis Rocha decreed that events and gatherings with more than 100 people were suspended until next Monday, later updating it to allow events to happen “behind closed doors” following their health team’s approval.
The news was first reported by Brazilian combat sports outlet Combate.
The show is headlined by Kevin Lee vs. Charles Oliveira in an interesting battle of lightweights trying to break into the upper tier of the division. According to Ariel Helwani, the show will begin two hours earlier (3 PM Eastern) and will air on ESPN and ESPN Deportes in addition to ESPN+ due to the programming void left open by all the major sports leagues suspending operations and their seasons.
With the UFC’s packed schedule (six events in the next two months alone), they will have tough decisions to make and soon. TSN”s Aaron Bronsteter reported that the April 11th show set for Portland, Oregon, will move to the UFC’s APEX facility in Las Vegas, NV, as a precautionary measure. Of the UFC’s next six shows, four are in the U.S. with the other overseas show set for London, England, next weekend.
The one show that has UFC fans very concerned is the April 18th UFC 249 pay-per-view in Brooklyn, NY, headlined by lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson. Because of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Thursday decree that all events with over 500 attendees be suspended, there is concern the main event (one that has attempted to be made four previous times) will not happen for a fifth.
Given the amount of those sports leagues and organizations making those decisions in the last 24 hours (NBA, NCAA NHL, XFL, etc), the UFC’s relative silence about the Brazil show (save restrictions on media entering the building) or their impending schedule is strange to say the least.
**********
Bellator MMA will move forward with their Friday night show at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT, but to an empty arena. The event is headlined by featherweight champion Patricio “Pitbull” Freire vs. Pedro Carvalho in a Grand Prix fight and will also feature Matt Mitrione, Paul Daley, and more.
Less than six weeks after their relaunch began, Vince McMahon’s XFL season has come to an end — the latest sports league to fall victim to the worldwide coronavirus outbreak.
“Currently, the XFL will not be playing its regular-season games. However, all players will be paid their base pay and benefits for the 2020 regular season. All XFL ticket holders will be issued refunds or credit toward future games. The XFL is committed to playing a full season in 2021 and future years.”
Of note, the word “currently” and “regular season” are curious choices, seemingly indicating that decision could change and/or they could have playoffs.
The XFL had held its own ratings-wise through their first five weeks across ABC, Fox, ESPN, and FS1, declining every week from a robust opening weekend but not nearly at the rate the 2001 version did.
After turning down an offer from the founders of the now-defunct AAFL to buy the trademarks and all intellectual property, McMahon announced the formation of Alpha Entertainment in 2019, a separate entity from WWE, and that he was going to relaunch it instead.
