Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight contender, Lyman Good, has openly come out to reveal that he is the first fighter under contract for the promotion to test positive for COVID-19.
During a recent interview with ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, Good stated he got tested for the virus about a month ago after his body felt very weak and had trouble breathing during one of his sparring sessions. After his training session, he and his girlfriend went to get tested for COVID-19. A few days later, they received the positive results.
“I knew something was up. I know my body. I’ve been through it all. I’ve been through a lot of injuries and a lot of other things,” Good said. “But this was different. … As a professional athlete, we’re always constantly pushing our bodies. For me, my body was like my point check to see how physically I feel and everything. And my body just wasn’t there at all.”
After informing everyone he had been in contact with — including his team — of his test results, it was later discovered that one of his coaches had also tested positive, though none of his teammates did. His coach has since recovered.
While neither Good or his girlfriend, Elena Bulgor, had to be hospitalized, they fully recovered after going under full quarantine.
“My real concern was really just my teammates, my coaches and anyone I was exposed to,” Good said. “God forbid they get it, they spread it, and someone else gets sick really bad. I would feel responsible.
“We had to lean on each other pretty much. Unfortunately, I brought it back to her,” Good said of his girlfriend. “I guess when I got it, I didn’t have the symptoms right away. … We did the best we could together inside the household to just recover from this thing.”
Initially, Good told MMA Fighting on April 4 he had to withdraw from his bout against Belal Muhammad with an injury, though he recently admitted that UFC officials knew the real reason. As for why he didn’t make his case public right away, Lyman says he wanted to wait until he was fully recovered.
“We didn’t want to feed into the fear, the imminent fear going on in society now,” Good said. “It’s a pandemic, it is a real thing happening. But I didn’t want to stoke the flames.”
Good went on to reveal that UFC and Dana White have been in contact with him throughout the ordeal and have been very helpful. Despite his positive test, Good was in agreement with White in his efforts to try and stage fights. Ultimately, UFC 249 was canceled after ESPN and Disney stepped in to override White.
Now fully recovered, Good wants to get back into the swing of things as soon as possible. Furthermore, he is working with Red Cross to donate his antibodies to help other people survive the deadly virus.
“I don’t want people to feel bad for me and or to say this whole situation is messed up,” he said. “It is, but at the same time I was fortunate enough to beat it. Now, let’s get through this, let’s stay connected. Stay positive. We’ll get past it, there’s better times on the way.”
UFC has since canceled its upcoming slate of fights due to coronavirus, bringing its grand total of canceled events to eight.