Nunes close to certain she contracted COVID-19 before UFC 250
Like all the fighters competing at UFC 250 this Saturday, June 6, Amanda Nunes will be tested for COVID-19.
The two-weight champion is set to defend her featherweight strap for the first time against Felicia Spencer at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. Nunes told Combate she suspects she already contracted the virus before.
“I was in Vegas at a convention. There were a lot of people from all over the world. I was exposed to a lot of people there, and when I got home I got sick,” Nunes said to Combate.
“I soon got sick and had the same symptoms as the corona. And now, going to the UFC, I’m going to see if I really did. Because I arrived from the trip and went straight to bed, with a fever, my body (aching), something I never felt before. I’ve been sick before, and I never felt like I did when I arrived from Vegas, after the convention.”
Protocol
Nunes never received a test before heading back to Las Vegas for UFC 250. She will undergo multiple tests according to the promotion’s COVID-19 protocol.
All fighters and corners are required to take two COVID-19 antigen oropharyngeal swab tests before competing. The first tests will be administered upon checking into the host hotel.
Athletes are required to self-isolate at the hotel until they receive the results from their first test. Fighters are not allowed to leave the hotel or have any contact with anyone other than their designated team.
The second test will take place after the official weigh-ins on Friday. Like the first test, fighters and corners must self-isolate until receiving the results. Fighters will self-isolate overnight until the time of departure to the Apex for the event.
Nunes is currently riding a 10-fight win streak, most recently defeating Germaine de Randamie at UFC 245 in December 2019.
Nunes is confident she will find out if she contracted the virus before.
“And then I got sick, I stayed in bed for two, three days, and then Nina [Ansaroff] took it too and got sick. So I believe I went through the corona quickly, but I will know now if I already had it,” Nunes said. “So I must be immunized, right, because when you take it I think you are immunized, something like that I saw. Then I will really know if it was or not.”
