MMA fans were one week away from UFC 249, which was going to be headlined by former UFC Interim Lightweight Champion Tony Ferguson and former WSOF Lightweight Champion Justin Gaethje battling for the vacant UFC Interim Lightweight Title.
Reports have surfaced that California Governor Gavin Newsom was the one who called Disney and ESPN, which led to the call to White and the postponement of UFC events.
Another person has thrown their name into the hat for those who have got the UFC to postpone their events and that is Brave CF President Mohammed Shadid, as the promotion issued the following statement today (via Bloody Elbow):
Mr. Shahid led the way as the only major organization promoter to speak up and point out the flagrant flaws in the UFC’s plans and reiterating that MMA would only grow if the focus was the development of the sport, and not money.
And his opinions were soon echoed by federations, sports governing bodies, health authorities and respected sports athletes, leading to further pressure on the UFC to finally succumb to the pressure and the much-debated UFC 249 event was finally called off.
Shadid, who did postpone multiple Brave CF events due to the coronavirus, did speak out against the UFC running events. However, while the UFC is trying to take care of their fighters and staff who have been affected by the postponements, no fighters from the Brave CF events that were postponed will get compensated.
The UFC could be back in action in approximately one month as the promotion is currently building a “Fight Island” to hold events at, it is unknown at this time as to when Brave CF action will resume.
