There was criticism when UFC on ESPN+ 28 was held on March 14 in Brasilia, Brazil; it was the sole live sports event over the weekend airing in the United States.
Canadian lightweight John Wayne 'The Bull" Makdessi lost a unanimous decision he disputes to local fighter Francisco Trinaldo in the opening fight of the main card, and then returned home to Montreal. In keeping with Canada's directives on travelers returning from Brazil, he is now in self-isolation for two weeks, which is problematic.
“I’m under quarantine right now — 14 days,” said Makdessi to Neil Davidson for The Canadian Press. “And I need to get some medical assistance [as a result of the fight]. I can’t even do that."
The UFC Performance Institute has medical and other help available to fighters, but that, too, is out.
“I can’t go to headquarters because I’d have to go to Vegas and I can’t travel," he said. "And here no hospital will see me because I’m in quarantine.”
At the event, Makdessi had his hands wrapped at the hotel before leaving for the arena. The fighters were then transported there in small groups. And, of course, the arena was empty.
“It was very weird ... Everybody was kind of like not sure about what was going on. Mentally it was a scary feeling — not knowing what was going on," he said. "Plus with the coronavirus and then my family back home. A lot of things were going through my head.”
“It was very strange. Everything was strange.”
Randa Markos too returned to Canada after losing a unanimous decision, and is self-isolating; on the way home, she was not feeling well, and tried to get tested for COVID-19, but was denied.
https://twitter.com/randamma/status/1240001643976024064
UFC Brasilia was moved to broadcast on ESPN from streaming on ESPN+, but did the lowest numbers on a UFC on ESPN to date, likely because of the lack of promotion, and the afternoon time slot. Or maybe America was busy searching for toilet paper.