UFC main event cancelled due to Covid

in #sports3 years ago

At the witching hour the main event for UFC Vegas 15 was cancelled so we are going to have to wait a little while to find out if my prediction of Curtis Blaydes outclassing "The Black Beast" was a correct choice.

At first the UFC tried to keep it a secret which of the men tested positive but later they admitted it was Curtis Blaydes.


12.jpg
src

The announcement wasn't made until the official weigh in ceremony (or whatever you call that thing that nobody watches other than the press) and apparently they had known for some time before that. I think they might have waited so long because they knew that the interest in the event was largely based on the main event (as they tend to be) and waited so long so that as many people as possible might tune in anyway and not even be aware of the fact that the main card was cancelled.

When I tuned in, I though that I had made a mistake and that I had the dates switched around or wrong. The fact that Blaydes and Derrick Lewis weren't even going to fight that day wasn't mentioned a great deal and they even changed the title of the event. The Tyson fight was on at the same time so I barely paid any attention to the fights that did happen.

1251060138.jpg
src

The UFC has stated that they hope to be able to reschedule the fight to take place during a pay-per-view in December, which probably appeals to both of these men more than being on a non PPV anyway.

Let me get a little conspiracy theory-ish on you for a minute here: I suspect that neither of them actually tested positive for Covid but rather, they needed a little more meat and potatoes for the upcoming event in December and when the public responded so favorably to this matchup that is likely going to decide who gets a chance at the belt next, the made up a story so that they could delay the fight to encourage more pay per view purchases. At the end of the day, UFC is primarily about making money just like all other sports, so it wouldn't surprise me if this was the case.

For the record, I have predicted a Blaydes victory, whenever the fight does end up happening, because he is a more well-rounded fighter and because Derrick Lewis has little to no ground game. If the fight goes to the ground, which is where Blaydes is going to try to put it if he has an ounce of sense, I think we will see "The Black Beast" quickly gas out and succumb to TKO by ground and pound.