Bruce Buffer will not be in attendance at UFC 267 this week in Abu Dhabi as he recovers from COVID-19. It will be the first time in 25 years that Buffer is not announcing a UFC pay-per-view (PPV) event. The streak was quite impressive spanning from UFC 11 to now.
Luckily, Buffer seems to be making a speedy recovery after contracting the coronavirus sometime earlier this month. The long-time UFC announcer is nearly done with quarantine and is glad he got vaccinated when he did.
During a Thursday edition of his “IT’S TIME!!!” podcast, Buffer offered an in-depth look at his battle with COVID-19 and what it took to get better.
“I thank God I’m vaccinated,” said Buffer. “I had the (Johnson & Johnson vaccine). I plan on getting the booster; now I don’t have to get that for two or three months, whatever is allowed because you’re antibodies build up with this. (The virus) knocked my feet in the dirt definitely for the first three or four days with the fever, the temperature, the body aches, the headaches. I did not lose my taste or smell thankfully. …
“Everybody’s different. Luckily no lung damage that I can tell. My lungs feel good. I’ve been doing videos and cameos and getting them out. Even when I was sick I was doing it because obviously I’m here at home.
“All I can tell you, folks, is I hope you’re vaccinated. I don’t want to start a conversation, ‘get vaxxed, not get vaxxed.’ But if I wasn’t vaccinated, who knows how this thing would’ve wound up? Bottom line.”
Fortunately, Buffer was able to get his hands on some expensive antibodies called REGN-COV the first day he tested positive. Buffer has been incredibly safe during the pandemic so he was willing to do just about anything to make sure he kept his health. This also includes taking IV, bags of vitamins, and copious amounts of zinc.
“I’m gonna tell you one thing: If I have it, if I got it, anybody can get it. Because I’m just really safe about it,” Buffer said. “They say you can be in an area breathing with the same person potentially for 15 minutes, you hear all these different scenarios. I just say that we’re all guinea pigs on a daily basis.”
As of now, Buffer seems to be on track to make his return next weekend at UFC 268 in New York City. Of course, things could change quickly and the promotion may have to turn to Joe Martinez once again.
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 267 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the ESPN+ “Prelims” bouts at 10:30 a.m. ET, followed by the ESPN+ main card start time at 2 p.m. ET.