Last Man Standing

Dana White discusses whether the Coronavirus could have an impact on future UFC events. pic.twitter.com/6cQILOjteE

— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) March 8, 2020

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As the coronavirus pandemic began to take its hold around the world in early March, UFC President Dana White was loud and clear that he had no intention of postponing or canceling his promotion’s events. In an interview with TSN on the night of the organization’s UFC 248 pay-per-view, White stated that things would continue as normal in light of the epidemic and that he “didn’t give a s---” about the virus, though he acknowledged the Ultimate Fighting Championship would continue to monitor the situation as it evolved.

The following week, as sports leagues around the world suspended their operations due to the pandemic, the promotion forged ahead with UFC Fight Night 170 in Brasilia, Brazil, becoming one of the few sports entities still running during the global health crisis, albeit without a live audience due to the Brazilian government’s orders. Several days later, after further travel restrictions dismantled the company’s London card set for March 21, White refused to back down and said the UFC would relocate the event back the United States, sending out an email to several managers in the industry calling for fighters who were willing to step up on six days’ notice to compete. Despite White’s best efforts to keep the promotion running, however, the UFC on March 16 announced that it was postponing its next three events, citing recommendations made by the White House in response to the virus.

The UFC’s decision to defer upcoming events followed what many promotions in the industry have already done during the past several weeks. One Championship on March 6 announced that it would be postponing its “Heart of Heroes” card in Vietnam until June 26 due to COVID-19, stating that the safety of the fans, staff and fighters was the organization’s number one priority. A week later, on March 13, Bellator 241 was canceled just hours before the show was set to take place after Bellator MMA President Scott Coker said he did not feel comfortable proceeding with the event given the current health scare. Like every other sport affected by the disease, the mixed martial arts world has seemingly come to a screeching halt. Well, almost.

In spite of dire warnings from health experts, government restrictions and the vast majority of their competitors shutting down temporarily, MMA promotion Cage Warriors Fighting Championship has decided that the show must indeed go on. Cage Warriors 113 on Friday will be one of the only MMA showcases in the world to take place in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak, with the company doing everything it can to ensure the event materializes. Originally booked for the Indigo at the O2 in London, the card has since relocated to the BEC Arena in Manchester, England, after the original venue was shut down by its owners until further notice. Cage Warriors 113 will be headlined by Darren Stewart-Bartosz Fabinski—a bout that was originally booked for UFC Fight Night 171—and a lightweight title fight between Mason Jones and Joe McColgan.

“The Cage Warriors team is working around-the-clock to get this done,” Cage Warriors President Graham Boylan said in an interview with MMAJunkie.com. “After everything they’ve been through, the fighters deserve to compete. After all the support they’ve shown us, the fans deserve some calm amongst the chaos. We’re determined to provide the world with a seriously exciting night of MMA.”

Friday night's Main Card kicks off at 9PM Friday on @UFCFightPass @Darren_mma vs @BartoszFabinski@MasonJones1995 vs @JoeMcColgan_ - Lightweight Title Fight
@MrBagAndTag vs David Bear@PaddyTheBaddy vs Decky Dalton#CW113 pic.twitter.com/LNEdpcQzcP

— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) March 18, 2020

The promotion’s insistence on moving forward with the card has been met with mixed reactions. While many pundits have criticized Cage Warriors for what they perceive to be putting athletes and company staff’s health at risk, others, including several fighters, have praised the organization’s decision. Because athletes under contract with most MMA promotions are classified as independent contractors, canceling the event, they argue, would result in several fighters not getting paid despite training for months to compete. Depending on how long the coronavirus public health issue persists, this may be the last time any of the Cage Warriors 113 participants will be paid for the foreseeable future.

This points to a larger problem for MMA promoters as a whole right now. Losing live gate revenue due to the pandemic was one thing, but as restrictions have progressed to halt live shows entirely, businesses within the industry have no way to generate income. Larger institutions such as the UFC and Bellator may be able to leverage loans and existing credit lines to stay afloat, but smaller organizations like Cage Warriors may find themselves having trouble restarting operations when the crisis subsides. It’s not unrealistic to imagine that many fighters will find themselves out of a job should these smaller companies fail to survive the looming global recession or perhaps worse.

Even if society returns to normal in six to eight weeks—a best-case scenario at this point—virtually every fighter will be unemployed during that time. With no union or collective bargaining agreement in place, these athletes are unlikely to receive any form of income or benefits during this time and will need to look for work in other industries to provide for themselves and their families. Since the majority of professional fighters make so little money as it is, any athletes who are training and fighting full-time will have to scramble to find a job, competing with an ever-rising unemployed population in most countries.

As of now, Cage Warriors 113 is still set to go on as planned, though that could easily change. As the world adjusts to life during a pandemic, stricter actions will be taken by governments and businesses alike in order to keep the mortality rate of COVID-19 as low as possible, despite the social and economic consequences that come with such actions. Ethical dilemmas aside, should the Cage Warriors card go on as planned, rest assured that even its harshest critics will watch the fights, either to sharpen their keyboards or to satiate their appetite for a sport that hardly exists at the moment. According to Boylan, those critics should prepare to tune in on March 20, as it will take an army to stop the show from going on.

“It will take tanks, trucks and lots of men with guns to stop this event going on,” Boylan said in an interview with MMAFighting.com. “We’re going to keep it behind closed doors, we’re going to be washing hands, keeping distancing, we’re going to do everything we can within the guidelines.”

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