UFC bucked the trend of cancellations in international sporting events with a full fight card in Brazil on Saturday. Promotional content for the event accused the rest of the sporting world of ‘panicking.’
The event, hosted at the Nilson Nelson Gymnasium in Brasilia, contained only the fighters, their camps, TV crews and essential on-site personnel. However, there were no fans in the arena to watch the 12 bouts UFC put on live. Instead, they all had to catch the action from their homes.
Bea Malecki, the Swedish bantamweight and victor of the night’s opening fight, told reporters: “It was a bit weird not having any fans inside the arena. But I was able to hear everything my coaches were saying, and it was good. Sometimes it is so loud out there. It was a crazy week. We didn’t know if the fight was going to happen or not, but we stuck to the plan. It was really emotional.”
Despite the noticeable, to say the least, absence of fans, UFC still held to normal procedures. The fighters’ walk in music was played as they entered the cage, and the announcer read out the fighters’ names. And after an in-cage interview, UFC broadcaster Michael Bisping told the non-existent crowd to “make some noise” before remembering there was no one there.
UFC still plans on holding its next big fixture in the London O2 arena next weekend.
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