UFC 250 card took a big hit today. It was reported that Dominick Cruz will replace José Aldo in the main event against bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo. Now Combate’s Ana Hissa, Marcelo Barone and Raphael Marinho report that 14 Brazilian UFC fighters are expected to be pulled from upcoming scheduled UFC events from April 26 through May 16.
According to Combate, “American Embassies around the world are not serving non-American citizens and, therefore, it was impossible at this time for athletes to renew their work visa to travel to the United States, where the next five events are expected to take place.” Combate reported that “The work visa that fighters need is a P1 type visa, which is valid for three months.” The report also pointed out that “The usual for all athletes who live in Brazil is to renew the document at each fight.” This explains why the fighters from Brazil will have issues fighting in the United States during the pandemic.
The card most affected will be UFC 250 that has seven fighters that will be pulled from the card. The event was originally scheduled to take place in Saul Paulo, Brazil. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the UFC is looking to host the event in the United States. This has resulted in six fights being canceled on the card, with the card having a total of eight fights as of Tuesday. Besides Aldo, the other fighters to be removed from the card are Maurício “Shogun” Rua, Antônio Rogério Nogueira, Bethe Correia, Augusto Sakai, Carlos Felipe, and Ketlen Vieira. UFC Women’s bantamweight and featherweight champion Amanda Nunes and former UFC Heavyweight Fabrício Werdum are still expected to compete on the card.
The total list of Brazilian fighters that will not be able to compete between April 25 to May 16 are:
1. Ariane Sorriso – was scheduled to fight Mackenzie Dern on April 25
2. Raphael Bebezão – was scheduled to fight Alexander Romanov on April 25
3. Marina Rodríguez – was scheduled to fight Cláudia Gadelha on May 2
4. Vanessa Melo – was scheduled to fight Sarah Alpar on May 2
5. José Aldo – was scheduled to fight Henry Cejudo on May 9
6. Maurício “Shogun” Rua – was scheduled to fight Antônio Rogério Nogueira on May 9
7. Antônio Rogério Nogueira
8. Bethe Correia – was scheduled to fight Pannie Kianzad on May 9
9. Augusto Sakai – was scheduled to fight Blagoy Ivanov on May 9
10. Carlos Felipe – was scheduled to fight Sergey Spivak on May 9
11. Ketlen Vieira – was scheduled to fight Marion Reneau on May 9
12. Ariane Lipski – was scheduled to fight Luana Dread on May 16
13. Luana Dread
14. Lara Procópio – was scheduled to fight Cortney Casey on May 16