Ronaldo “J’acare” Souza, who was scheduled to fight Uriah Hall at UFC 249 on Saturday, has tested positive for coronavirus.
While Souza will not fight, the UFC 249 card will go on as planned, Hunter Campbell, excecutive vice president and chief business officer of UFC told ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith on Friday.
Souza arrived in Jacksonville, Florida on Wednesday and informed UFC officials that a family member had tested positive. Souza was asymptomatic but was monitored and tested, and Friday the test came back positive after he had already appeared at the weigh-in for Saturday’s fight.
The UFC has conferred with Florida state athletic officials, who said the fights can go on as scheduled because the system worked in Souza’s case.
UFC 249’s main card begins at 10 p.m. ET on pay-per-view with preliminaries beginning at 6 p.m. on ESPN.