Jason da Silva-USA TODAY Sports
Heavyweight Augusto Sakai is doing what he can in order to not catch the coronavirus ahead of UFC 250.
If the upcoming UFC 249 card is in jeopardy due to the coronavirus pandemic, the next UFC pay per view card is probably in danger as well.
Scheduled to take on Blagoy Ivanov at UFC 250, in his native Brazil, rising heavyweight Augusto Sakai is still afraid the card might get postponed or even cancelled, but hopes things will be under control by May 9, the day of the fight.
In order to still prepare properly for the the fight, Sakai tells Ag Fight he has resorted to training only at a gym behind closed doors or at a coach’s house to reduce the chance of catching the highly contagious virus.
“When I go to the gym, the training session is closed. When I can’t make it to the gym, we go to one of my coaches’ house. He has a nice place, with lots of equipment where we can do physical training and fighting. The only people who will be with me are the ones who can help my during my camp. Those are the measures. As long as they don’t cancel the event, we’ll keep o training and adapting.”
So far, Sakai says he has no idea if the event will be postponed or cancelled, mentioning that the UFC assured him that everything was going as planned, although Augusto knows there is a chance things might take a turn for the worse.
“The UFC hasn’t told me anything, they haven’t cancelled anything. Everything is on as far as we know, That’s why I’m still training and focused for May 9. I’m aware the problem is serious and, should it get worse, the event might be cancelled. We have faith everything will get better, though.”
Undefeated in his UFC career, Sakai (14-1-1) will look for his fourth straight win, after having already defeated Chase Sherman, Andrei Arlovski and most recently, back in September 2019, Marcin Tybura. The 28-year-old’s last and sole loss happened in May 2017, when he dropped a split decision to Cheick Kongo in Bellator.
Sakai is expected to take on Ivanov at UFC 250, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on May 9. The card is scheduled to be headlined by a bantamweight title fight between the champion, Henry Cejudo, and former featherweight champion Jose Aldo.