The UFC returned to action two a little over a week ago with a three pack of events in UFC 249, UFC Fight Night: Smith vs. Teixeira and UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Harris. Those three events were held during the coronavirus pandemic and this weekends UFC Fight Night: Woodley vs. Burns card will also happen during the pandemic.
One UFC fighter in Ronaldo Souza did test positive for the coronavirus ahead of UFC 249, along with two of his cornermen, but everybody else tested negative for the virus during on-site testing.
Possibly due to the positive tests and some criticism levied against the UFC for running events during the pandemic, a few updates have been made to the coronavirus protocol by the UFC.
MMA Junkie has obtained a copy of the UFC?s updated policies surrounding their events and the coronavirus pandemic.
A huge change is that fighters and their cornermen are not allowed to leave the fighter hotel or interact with others until they receive coronavirus test results:
?This means you should not leave the Athlete Hotel or have physical contact with anyone other than the members of your camp until you have received your test result.?
Another change is that fighters and their cornermen won?t be allowed to leave the hotel without permission from the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC):
?During this time, no athletes or cornermen will be permitted to leave the Athlete Hotel without express prior approval from the Nevada State Athletic Commission.?
Other changes state that fighters and their cornermen cannot come in physical contact with anyone else in the hotel, fighters and their corners have to pass a second coronavirus test before leaving the hotel and the UFC Performance Institute is off limits to those competing on UFC cards during fight week.