UFC plans to test fighters, team members for the coronavirus ahead of UFC 249, per report

UFC will also pay to sanitize the arena after each event as part of its plan to make things as safe as possible

As UFC president Dana White has promised for weeks, the UFC is set to be "the first sport back" from the coronavirus pandemic, with UFC 249 taking place on Saturday at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. Issues still remain in the state as Florida has the eighth highest amount of confirmed cases in the country. The mix of the UFC's push to hold events while the world struggles to deal with the pandemic has led to an entire shift in the way the promotion approaches "fight week."

With media obligations reduced and the typical festivities on hold, the focus has turned to attempting to hold the event as safely as possible. According to an ESPN report, the UFC intends on providing both the diagnostic COVID-19 swab test as well as the antibody test to fighters and team members ahead of the event. Those same people will be expected to take part in additional screening throughout the week.

In addition, fighters will be provided with individual workout rooms with personal saunas to train and cut weight. They will also have access to hotel room service 24 hours a day and Trifecta, a meal-prep sponsor for the UFC, will provide meals to fighters who request them.

To sell the city on the event, the UFC outlined their safety plans and provided it to city officials.

"Part of what gave us comfort was a plan they outlined related to testing those they're bringing to Jacksonville related to COVID-19," Jacksonville chief administrative officer Brian Hughes told ESPN. "Based on what we've been briefed, it is clear that they're going to test for COVID and they'll have a couple of different segments of testing throughout the week."  

Included in the overall plan was for the UFC to pay to sterilize the arena after each of the three events they plan to hold from May 9 to May 16.

Dr. Donald Muzzi, president of the Association of Ringside Physicians, explained the learning opportunities present in the situation.

"This is always going to be a work in progress," Muzzi said. "And it's going to continue to be that way. When this event is over, we're going to step back and see what we've learned. This is gonna continue to evolve. It's like a fight -- we have to bob and weave. We have to adjust to the opponent, which in this case is the virus."