UFC welterweight contender Lyman Good has become the first active fighter under contract to publicly confirm a positive test for Covid-19.
The American, who had been lined up to fight on the original UFC 249 last week, announced the news in an interview with ESPN.
A former Bellator welterweight champion, Good lives in New Jersey and trains in New York, the city worst affected in the United States by the coronavirus pandemic.
Good, 34, was slated to take on Belal Muhammad at UFC 249, which was initially scheduled for last weekend at the Barclays Centre in Brooklyn. The event was moved and subsequently cancelled following pressure from Disney and ESPN, the UFC’s parent company and broadcast partner.
Good withdrew from UFC 249 several weeks ago, with his absence cited as an injury.
But on Monday, he said: “Although I said it was due to an injury, it was actually because I had tested positive for Covid-19. As soon as I found out, I let everybody know.
“It was one of those things where it wasn’t sinking in that it could’ve been that.
“As fighters, we’re hardwired to train through everything. If we catch a cold or little nagging injuries here or there, we’re trained to just pretty much fight through it.
“At first I thought it was that. But there was just one day where it was bad. My body wasn’t listening. It wasn’t responding the way it normally does to sparring.”
Good, who quarantined as soon as he found out he had the virus, said the peak of his symptoms took hold for about one week, but that he did not need to go to hospital. He said his girlfriend and coach at his gym had tested positive also, but both had recovered.
“The major contributing factor to my decision [to get tested] was the safety of the people around me,” Good said.
“When maybe I thought there was a possibility that I have it, I figured ‘let me just make sure that I have it or not’.
“Also for the safety for my coaches – my coach was showing up every morning to my training sessions – my teammates, my family, and everybody else.
“Really, what I held into account was the safety of others. God forbid they get it, they spread it and someone else gets sick really bad. I would feel responsible.”
Good, whose mixed martial arts record stands at 21-5, said he is working with the American Red Cross to donate his antibodies in the hope they can help others survive the deadly virus. As of Tuesday, more than 700,000 cases had been confirmed in the US, including 34,000 deaths.
“Unfortunately, a lot of people aren’t surviving this thing,” Good said. “I want to take this negative and try to turn it into a positive.”
Meanwhile, the UFC has confirmed its next four events – Nebraska, Oklahoma City, Sao Paulo and San Diego – have been called off, either cancelled or postponed indefinitely.
Although the shows were to run on consecutive weeks from April 25 to May 16, the UFC is still believed to be pushing forward with a blockbuster May 9 event.
