Getty An overhead view of the Octagon as Jon Jones knocks out Daniel Cormier during the UFC 214 event at Honda Center on July 29, 2017 in Anaheim, California.
A UFC fighter revealed to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani on Monday that the real reason he pulled out of his scheduled UFC 249 appearance was that he had tested positive for COVID-19. UFC welterweight contender Lyman Good (21-5) was originally supposed to face Belal Muhammad at UFC 249 on April 18, but the fighter had to be scratched from the event two weeks prior after an undisclosed injury.
Of course, that “injury” is what turned out to actually be the coronavirus. Moreover, the revelation Good made to Helwani on Monday also finally revealed the first known case of an active UFC fighter testing positive for COVID-19.
“As soon as I found out, I let everybody know,” Good said.
Good said as a UFC fighter he’s trained to fight through colds and other sicknesses, but that COVID-19 wasn’t something he could get over.
“Man, there was just one day where it was bad,” Good said. “My body wasn’t listening, it wasn’t responding the way it normally does to sparring….so I decided to go get tested and it came back positive.”
Thankfully, Good said he’s fully recovered now. The fighter was tested again recently and that test came back negative.
Good Remains ‘Grateful’ UFC Is Still Planning Future Events
The 34-year-old former and inaugural Bellator welterweight champion moved over to the UFC ranks in 2015. Good has alternated wins and losses over his last five fights all of which make up his total appearances with the company.
Good scored UFC wins over Andrew Craig, Ben Saunders and Chance Rencountre and suffered losses to Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos and Demian Maia.
Still, he was hoping to break that cycle at UFC 249 and even said he was “grateful” the company was continuing to schedule more events even after testing positive for coronavirus.
For Good and many other UFC fighters, the prospect of not being able to work over the next few months just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Instead, Good, even after testing positive for COVID-19, is happy UFC president Dana White has a big and bold plan to make fights happen weekly starting on May 9.
“There’s a lot of negative, a lot fear and a lot of bad circulating around in the world and in the media,” Good said. “Maybe this would be a good distraction. If any of those people who were criticizing the UFC had the opportunity to make money, you’re going to tell me they’re going to say no? They’re not going to try to make money and bring food to the table?”
You can watch Good’s full chat with Helwani below.
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