White: ‘We lost seven production people’ due to positive COVID test ahead of Munhoz vs. Edgar card

The days leading up to the UFC’s most recent Apex event – headlined by the bantamweight fight between Frankie Edgar and Pedro Munhoz –…

By: Zane Simon | 3 years ago
White: ‘We lost seven production people’ due to positive COVID test ahead of Munhoz vs. Edgar card
Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

The days leading up to the UFC’s most recent Apex event – headlined by the bantamweight fight between Frankie Edgar and Pedro Munhoz – were something of a nightmare when it came to finalizing Saturday night’s fight card lineup. While bouts like Angela Hill vs. Michelle Waterson and Yoel Romero vs. Uriah Hall, and Ovince St. Preux vs. Shamil Gamzatov were all scratched well in advance, by the time the UFC went live on August 22nd, eleven different bookings had been scrapped.

In the case of at least two fighters – newcomer Mark Striegl, and longtime veteran Ovince St. Preux – the reasons behind their exits from the card were positive tests for COVID-19. The danger of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic wasn’t just limited to the athletes, however, as president Dana White made clear during the post-fight press conference. There the UFC boss announced that seven employees had been removed from the event as well.

“Yeah, no, this was probably the – he was just asking about OSP – this has probably been the craziest week we’ve had since this whole thing started,” White said, when asked about fighters staying in prolonged camps to ‘be ready’ for a potential UFC call up. “And it wasn’t just—I have to commend the production team tonight. We lost, like, seven production people too. It’s been a crazy week for us, and everybody delivered. And these fighters keep stepping up, the production team stepped up tonight, these are crazy times.

“It’s insanity,” White continued. “And the matchmakers—the matchmakers are making fights the day of the weigh-ins. Crazy.”

Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole followed up with the UFC after White’s comment, for clarification.

Hopefully the UFC’s coronavirus protocols continue to stay sharp for the months ahead, and the UFC doesn’t suffer too many more weeks like this one. With events currently planned for every weekend going forward through November, the promotion could easily find itself in a dire situation if staff start getting sick around the Apex facility.

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About the author
Zane Simon
Zane Simon

Zane Simon is a senior editor, writer, and podcaster for Bloody Elbow. He has worked with the website since 2013, taking on a wide variety of roles. A lifelong combat sports fan, Zane has trained off & on in both boxing and Muay Thai. He currently hosts the long-running MMA Vivisection podcast, which he took over from Nate Wilcox & Dallas Winston in 2015, as well as the 6th Round podcast, started in 2014. Zane is also responsible for developing and maintaining the ‘List of current UFC fighters’ on Bloody Elbow, a resource he originally developed for Wikipedia in 2010.

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