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I learned years ago it’s never wise to bet against Dana White. The UFC president has a way of getting things done, even when it seems impossible, and then reminding you of it at every opportunity afterward.

So as the coronavirus pandemic worsened by the day and White’s friend, President Donald Trump, predicted as many as 240,000 deaths from it in the U.S., I didn’t doubt White’s ability to keep UFC 249 on April 18 as scheduled and sell it on pay-per-view.

And on Monday, he announced on Twitter the rejiggered UFC 249, featuring a lightweight fight between Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje, would be held “somewhere on Earth,” and would be for the interim lightweight title. Later he announced the entire fight card and told TMZ he’s close to securing a private island to hold UFC events every week.

Nothing short of a presidential directive is going to keep this card from happening, and given Trump’s desire to end the crisis and his interest in “opening our country,” it’s unlikely he’ll tell White to stand down.

For the fighters who will appear, who have been training for months to prepare, it’s a windfall. There is no union that represents UFC fighters. There is no collective bargaining agreement that spells out what happens when a pandemic throws the sport into chaos and just about everything is canceled.

The only way the fighters get paid is to compete, and the only way for them to compete is to train. But it takes money, and lots of it, for a fighter to put a training camp together and prepare at the level it takes to fight in the UFC. You’re talking in excess of five figures a camp.

So for a fighter who had to train despite the uncertainty of whether the card would go on because of the coronavirus, this card is a lifeline. They’ll have income for their families, to pay their mortgages and their rent. They’ll be able to take care of the bills that so many Americans are struggling to figure out how to pay in these uncertain times.

It’s great for them.

But beyond that, the risk/reward ratio seems way out of whack. The risks of it are extraordinary and, in a worst-case scenario that no one wants to see happen, could ultimately mean lost lives. If a member of the UFC traveling party is one of those asymptomatic persons who unknowingly passes COVID-19 on to another person, it puts at risk not just that person but every person that person comes into contact with.

That means his or her spouse and children, the people they pass in grocery stores and anyone else they may see. The U.S. just passed the 10,000 death mark, and Trump has been warning of 100,000-240,000 deaths. That’s a sign of how quickly this spreads.

View photos UFC president Dana White announced Monday that UFC 249 will feature an interim lightweight title fight between Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images) More

Even the governor of Georgia, who hasn’t been paying much attention, finally learned last week that asymptomatic people can pass this disease on to others.

The disease is highly contagious, and much more contagious than the seasonal flu. It’s why more than 40 of the 50 governors have ordered Americans to stay in their homes, and closed nonessential businesses. Gov. Steve Sisolak, who took the extraordinary step on March 17 of closing the state’s casinos, issued a mandatory stay at home order on April 1 for Nevada, where White and most UFC employees are based.

As much as we love sports, no one can seriously argue that the UFC or the NFL or NBA or whatever sport you want to name is essential. So for White and the others to leave home to put on this show will mean violating Sisolak’s order.

Beyond that, though, is the risk of spreading the virus. Hospitals across the country are overwhelmed and the government is converting convention centers and the like into hospitals as quickly as they can.

White and his staff undoubtedly will do everything possible to make the event as safe as can be for all concerned. And though White, who has been like Trump and rampaging regularly against the media recently, wouldn’t say if everyone would be tested for the coronavirus, it’s safe to assume they will be.

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