Women’s bantamweight contender Ketlen Vieira is in favor of canceling UFC 250.
UFC 250 is scheduled to take place May 9 in Sao Paulo, Brazil and will be headlined by a bantamweight title fight between Henry Cejudo and Jose Aldo.
However, there is uncertainty as to whether the card will take place given the coronavirus pandemic. Brazil has over 600 cases of the novel coronavirus with 22 out of 25 confirmed deaths coming from Sao Paulo, making it the most affected city in the nation.
Vieira — who is set to face Marion Reneau on the card — believes the event should be called off given the severity of the pandemic.
“I don’t think there will be an event in Sao Paulo, because deaths have been confirmed,” Vieira told Ag Fight (via Bloody Elbow). “We’re just waiting for the UFC to tell us something. Cancelling it would be the right thing for the UFC to do. In order to fight, I need to prepare. How can I fight if I can’t prepare? Especially in our sport, where there’s contact and I can’t touch anyone.
“There’s been no preparation because they cancelled everything. They thought it would be for the best if there were no training sessions. Nobody is training, we’re trapped home. I don’t go out for anything. I was only running and I don’t even know if I’ll be able to do that this week. We’re not allowed to go out.”
Although the UFC canceled three of its upcoming events, Dana White has planned for UFC 249 to take place outside the United States on April 18 despite growing safety concerns.
White will likely want UFC 250 to go ahead as well but for Vieira, health is paramount:
“I’m not afraid of the event getting cancelled,” she added. “I think my health and everyone else’s comes first in a situation like this. I have no problem with it being cancelled.”
What do you think of Vieira’s comments? Do you think UFC 250 will end up getting called off?