Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, who was scheduled to fight Uriah Hall at UFC 249 on Saturday in Jacksonville, Florida, has tested positive for the coronavirus.
The UFC pulled Souza from the card, but still plans to move on with the rest of the pay-per-view event, UFC EVP and Chief Business Officer Hunter Campbell told ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith.
Souza was scheduled to take part in the preliminary card of the event, the UFC’s first since pausing fights due to the pandemic.
After driving to Jacksonville on Wednesday, Souza, who trains in Orlando, informed UFC officials that a family member might have tested positive. Souza was asymptomatic but was monitored and tested. The test came back positive on Friday, after he had already appeared at the weigh-in for Saturday’s middleweight fight wearing a mask and gloves.
Souza has left the hotel where all fighters on Saturday’s card are staying, sources told ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, who also reported that the other 23 fighters on the card have tested negative for the virus.
The UFC, meanwhile, has conferred with Florida state athletic officials, who said the fights can go on as scheduled because the system worked in Souza’s case.
Souza (26-8-0), a 40-year-old Brazilian and former Strikeforce champion, had spoken about fighting during the pandemic earlier this week in an interview with ESPN Brazil earlier this week.
“I am afraid to do everything, even to go to the supermarket,” he said in a translated version of the interview. “But there is something I have to do, there is no escape. I prefer to work and take the risk because these are things we will have to do. But we are very concerned with this business, it is very serious, there are many people dying, it is complicated and sad.”
UFC 249’s main card begins at 10 p.m. ET on pay-per-view with preliminaries beginning at 6 p.m. on ESPN.
ESPN’s Brett Okamoto contributed to this report.
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