UFC, Bellator holding empty arena shows this weekend

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. 

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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.