UFC 249: Dana White admits ‘optics look really bad’ on video of coronavirus-infected Jacare Souza

Dana White admitted “the optics look bad” after a video emerged of coronavirus-infected Jacare Souza mingling with other fighters at the UFC 249 hotel in Jacksonville, Florida.

The video, uploaded by Fabricio Werdum, was quickly deleted after it was announced his fellow Brazilian had tested positive for Covid-19. The news came after Souza weighed in for his fight with Uriah Hall, which was promptly scrapped from Saturday night’s card.

Souza is now off-site isolating along with his team – two of whom also tested positive – but it was reported by ESPN that the veteran fighter disclosed upon arriving at the Hyatt Regency hotel on Wednesday that he had had contact with a family member who showed symptoms of the virus. The UFC said Souza isolated himself, but he was still allowed to weigh-in and face off with Hall on Friday.

“What I'm hearing about that situation is I know that there was some video that happened, it wasn't for a long period of time,” White said. “He went over to do something real quick.

“The optics obviously look really bad on that one. But this was our first one … even the stare down, he stayed away from me, from Uriah. He had gloves and a mask.”

“Nothing goes 100 per cent perfect. We did the best job we could going into this thing. This is a team effort. We can do everything perfect, but the fighters have to play their part, too. Not just in the public … everybody has to be careful to try do their part.”

The state athletic commission still allowed the event to go ahead, and White touted the handling of Souza’s situation as a positive for the UFC.

“We found out last night,” White said. “This whole world is weird right now, everything is weird. This whole event is weird – we live in a different world than we did two months ago and the bottom line is that the system worked.

“What you don't want to do is two days after the fight say, ‘Oh s****, Jacare tested positive’, so it worked. Without sounding like a jackass, we're really good at what we do, and the way that this week went will just get better by Wednesday, by Saturday, and we'll really catch our stride. We're going to prove by next Saturday that professional sports can come back safely.

“[Jacare] was with the people he was with the entire time, we kept him away from people, and now we know he has it and now we can help him, too. When we're testing all our employees and fighters, we'll find out who has this thing and we can help them.”