Previously it had been reported that the UFC would require fighters to undergo medical tests and screening in the build-up to upcoming events like UFC 249 this coming Saturday night in Jacksonville, Florida, but it had been unclear whether this included being tested for covid-19 or not.
However, ESPN have now been able to confirm with the UFC that the fighters and their cornermen will indeed undergo testing to establish whether they currently have, or have had the virus, with, “both the diagnostic swab coronavirus test as well as the antibody test.”
Those tests will occur when they first arrive at the fighter hotel, which for most fighters will be on Tuesday or Wednesday, and they will then have to self-isloate as much as possible until their test results come back.
There will then be additional medical screening they will have to undergo for every day they remain at the hotel, including temperature checks and enquiries about any potential symptoms of covid-19.
One man who will be doing things a bit differently though is Donald Cerrone, who doesn’t plan to show up in Florida until later on in the week.
“I’m rolling in just in time to weigh in and go in to fight,” Cerrone told ESPN. “I’m staying in the RV, I don’t care. I already told the UFC.”
Given that he’s already spoken to the UFC about it, this presumably means that he’ll still have sufficient time to undergo the required testing before he competes on Saturday night.
