UFC: COVID-19 Test Results Gave Claudia Gadelha and Dan Ige A Scare

Before Claudia Gadelha and Dan Ige picked up their split decision victories at UFC Florida, they each had to endure a frightening situation regarding the coronavirus pandemic.

On arriving at the fighter’s hotel in Jacksonville, Gadelha went through the mandatory COVID-19 tests, only to receive inconclusive test results.

After receiving the news, Gadelha was required to quarantine for the first 24 hours she was in Jacksonville, even stating to Sirius XM Fight Nation’s ‘MMA Tonight’ (as transcribed by BJPenn.com) that the UFC had to bring her a sauna to her room.

“Something that happened that I want to bring up, I’m crazy obsessive with nutrition and if you stop to look at it, I was so bloated on fight night. I feel like a lot of that has to do with all the stress that I been through the entire camp. Also when I got to Jacksonville, my first test came back inconclusive so I had to quarantine for the first 24 hours in the room by myself. I couldn’t go to my workout room to cut weight for the first 24 hours and I started freaking out, I was up all night thinking I had coronavirus.

“The UFC called me and they were like ‘Jacare’ [Souza]’s test came back in the same way, so we think you have it’. They actually moved me to another floor by myself and I couldn’t see anybody. They were bringing me food and water, and they brought a sauna to my room but I couldn’t cut weight on the first day, I need to workout.”

As it turns out, Gadelha wasn’t the only fighter with a similar story. Featherweight contender Dan Ige also revealed that his brother-in-law had the same result.

“My brother-in-law, I always put him in my corner, the same thing happened to him, he got a false positive. He was going to stay with me in my room but they isolated him, got him his own room and then here I am for 24 hours freaking out like does he have coronavirus, do I have coronavirus? I was just freaking out, he was freaking out, but same thing [as Gadelha] it was a false positive.”

The UFC announced that they performed over 1,100 COVID-19 tests during the three fight nights in Jacksonville. Despite all the tests, only one fight was cancelled, ‘Jacare’ Souza vs Uriah Hall from the UFC 249 card, due to the Brazilian and two of his cornermen testing positive.

After their three events in Jacksonville, the UFC returns this weekend at their APEX facility in Las Vegas for UFC 250. The promotion has announced stricter testing, in which the fighters will not be allowed to leave their rooms between getting tested (on the day of arrival and on the day of the weigh-ins) until they get their results back 24 hours later.

Do you think that the UFC is taking the necessary precautions to ensure fighter safety?


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