UFC fans warned they risk death attending Usman vs Masvidal rematch

MMA die-hards have been warned they will be putting their lives at risk to attend UFC 261.

Top billing on the night of April 24 night will be Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal in their Welterweight title rematch in Jacksonville, Florida.

The VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena will throw its doors open as the UFC welcomes back fight fans for the first time in over a year on US soil.

With Florida accounting for 33,000 of America’s 548,000 deaths from Covid-19, those fortunate enough to get a ticket for the event have been warned they risk exposure to the deadly virus.

At the time of writing, Duval County, in which Jacksonville is located, was listed by the Centre for Disease Control at a ‘substantial’ level of community transmission, the second highest level it could be.

With 15,000 people expected to flock to the event, the fine print on each ticket warns that attendance: "may result in severe and permanent damage to the health of the Holder and/or others, including but not limited to, death, fever, weight loss, irreversible pulmonary, respiratory and/or neurological system damage, loss of taste or smell, mental or emotional distress, temporary or permanent disability, loss of income, loss of employment, loss of financial or other opportunities, medical expenses."

UFC president Dana White announced that event sold out ‘within minutes’ and set a record for the largest gross gate.

Tickets are reportedly being resold on the black market for as much as 20 times their face value price, such is the demand to watch the fights in person for the first time since UFC 248 in Las Vegas in March 2020.

Sign up for our boxing newsletter!

Every Monday we deliver our verdict on the weekend's fights and, more importantly, what's next for the winners and losers.

Signing up is easy, just click this link, enter your email address and select 'Boxing' from the list.

Following a series of cancellations due to the coronavirus outbreak, the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena hosted the first event without spectators last May as Justin Gaethje defeated Tony Ferguson for the interim lightweight championship.

The UFC returns to Jacksonville as Masvidal attempts to take the Welterweight crown from Usman having suffered defeat by unanimous decision when the two first met at UFC 251 in another behind-closed-doors event in Abu Dhabi.

A stacked card for UFC 261 also features Valentina Shevchenko in her latest defence of the women’s flyweight title against Jessica Andrade.

Source: Read Full Article