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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) recently made the decision to proceed with UFC Fight Night 170, set to go down inside Nilson Nelson Gymnasium in Brasilia, Brazil this Saturday (March 14, 2020), with no fans in attendance. And now Bellator MMA is following suit.
Per Scott Coker, tomorrow night’s (Fri. March 13) Bellator 241 event, which is set to go down inside Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, will proceed with no audience in attendance due to the coronavirus outbreak sweeping the world.
Out of an abundance of caution for all parties, #Bellator241 on Friday, March 13 at Mohegan Sun Arena will be closed to the public. Refunds for ticketholders will be available at their original point of purchase.
— Scott Coker (@ScottCoker) March 12, 2020
That means DAZN will likely enjoy an uptick in subscriptions.
Earlier today, it was reported that next month’s UFC 249: “Khabib vs Ferguson” event — which is set to go down in Brooklyn, New York — could be relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada after New York Governor Andrew Cuomo issued a statewide ban on public gatherings of more than 500 people effective tomorrow (Fri. March 13).
UFC on ESPN 8, which is set to go down in a couple of weeks in Columbus, Ohio, could suffer the same fate after Ohio’s governing body implemented a similar policy.
Indeed, sports organizations around the world have had to shift gears as the coronavirus outbreak continues to run rampant. The National Basketball Association (NBA) postponed its season just yesterday, with National Hockey League (NHL) doing the same earlier today. Major League Baseball (MLB), meanwhile, has delayed the beginning of its 2020 season for a couple of weeks.
Bellator 241 will see featherweight champion, Patricio Freire, face Pedro Carvalho, while UFC Fight Night 170 will feature a five-round main event fight between Kevin Lee and Charles Oliveira.