Souza tests positive for COVID-19, removed from UFC 249 card

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Middleweight Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza tested positive for the coronavirus and will not compete at UFC 249 on Saturday in Jacksonville, Florida, the UFC announced Friday night.

Two of Souza's cornermen also tested positive. All three men have left the host hotel and will begin self-isolating.

All other fighters on the card tested negative for the virus. UFC 249 will proceed as scheduled with 11 fights.

Fighters and personnel were tested for the virus upon their arrival in Jacksonville. Souza landed on Wednesday and told UFC officials that a member of his family had tested positive, according to ESPN.

Souza was scheduled to fight Uriah Hall in a preliminary bout. He was asymptomatic and participated in a distance stare-down with Hall on Friday morning. The test came back after the weigh-ins.

Hall immediately took to Twitter after the news broke to wish Souza well in his recovery from the coronavirus.