Twitter Mailbag: Effects of COVID-19 on MMA in Latin America, fighter house lockdown scenario, more

On this week’s Twitter Mailbag, we answer your questions on COVID-19’s effects on MMA in Latin America, house lockdown scenario and more.

Questions on your mind about recent happenings in MMA or the sport in general? MMA Junkie’s Twitter Mailbag is here – and this week it’s Danny Segura to answer:

  • How has coronavirus affected MMA in Latin America?
  • Which fighter house would Segura spend lockdown in?
  • Jon Jones was sponsored by the UFC in 2012?
  • And more

Those are answered in the video above. You can also read on a few more topics below.

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How is Latin American MMA handling lockdown?

Great question. Latin America has many regional promotions, so it’s hard to track down all the organizations.

The biggest player that showcases some of the best Latin talent in MMA is Combate Americas. The company, which mostly operates in the U.S. but uses plenty of Latin America talent, has postponed its events.

We’ve also seen Latin American UFC fighters affected by the coronavirus – all the Brazilian fighters currently in Brazil are stuck in their home country due to travel bans. Colombia, Costa Rica, Bolivia, Argentina and other countries have imposed travel bans, making it difficult for athletes to travel. I know of a few regional Latin American promotions that have postponed events. Lux Fight League, Jungle Fight, Shooto Brazil are some examples.

Also worth nothing, these Latin American promotions don’t have the power the UFC has with being able to move events around and work around bans on public gatherings.

 

Which fighter house would you spend quarantine in? 

Easy answer: Donald Cerrone’s BMF ranch.

In times like this, life gets stripped down to the basics. If you’re healthy and still have a job, consider yourself blessed/lucky (whatever you believe or don’t). The social life, pop culture and really all the noise that keep us from thinking about how easy most of us have it is now out the window.

I’ve had plenty of time to realize that if it wasn’t for the essential workers that keep water, electricity, food and safety going in our cities, we’d all be screwed.

I’m sure at the BMF ranch I have a better chance of learning how to hunt, construct buildings, repair cars and other machinery, and maybe learn some electrical stuff, all while being isolated from the masses (something I can’t do in New York). So yeah – hope that answers your question.

 

Remember when Jon Jones was sponsored by the UFC back in the day?

Vaguely. At the time, I was just a fan of the sport and didn’t cover MMA for a living, so I didn’t follow the news cycle as close as I do now.

So I did some research because I do remember something like along those lines. Turns out Jon Jones was sponsored by the UFC for his title defense against Rashad Evans in the main event of UFC 145. Funny enough, the eight-year anniversary of that event is in a few days.

At the time, Reebok’s partnership with the UFC didn’t exist and fighters were allowed to wear their own pre-approved gear to the octagon. Jones wore UFC branded shorts during his fight, which he won by decision. It’s kind of bizarre looking back. Our John Morgan spoke to Jones’ manager about potential conflicts of interest, if you’re curious to know more about it.

 

If you had the chance to interview five athletes from any period of history, who would they be?

I’ll keep it combat sports related, and athletes who we can no longer talk to unfortunately, since there are athletes whom I still hope to talk to one day.

  1. Muhammad Ali
  2. Bruce Lee
  3. Jack Dempsey
  4. “Kid” Yamamoto
  5. Kimbo Slice