Francis Ngannou discusses UFC’s ‘precautions’ for relocated fight with Jairzinho Rozenstruik

Francis Ngannou is glad the UFC is moving forward with his fight with Jairzinho Rozenstruik.

Ngannou and Rozenstruik were originally expected to fight in the main event of UFC Columbus on March 28. Amid the exploding COVID-19 pandemic, however, the fight was relocated to the UFC’s new Apex facility in Las Vegas — though that location is now up in the air as well, as the Nevada Athletic Commission has banned all combat sports events until March 25 and could extend the ban beyond that.

Whatever the case, Ngannou is happy about the UFC’s controversial choice to proceed with fights amid this global health crisis.

“It’s good that it gets moved rather than gets cancelled,” Ngannou told MMA Fighting. “I’m pretty happy with that. I’m sure that I’m still going to fight. Yes, I’m very happy about that decision.”

Given the risks stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, the UFC will of course need to take plenty of precautions to keep fighters and staff safe. In his interview with MMA Fighting, Ngannou also touched on those precautions.

“I got a call from (UFC Chief Business Officer) Hunter Campbell yesterday and he was telling me the precautions,” Ngannou said. “Before that, I got an email from the UFC with all the precautions that we have to take to stay safe. I got a call from Hunter Campbell telling me if ever I feel like something is wrong, just call. Because they have a medical team set up for us. I don’t have to go to a random hospital out there or whatever.

“I mean in this case, you feel very safe and you know that they care about your health. As well as they’re going to be there. They’re not sending you somewhere. They’re going to be there, everything together to make sure everything is OK for your health. They’ll put everything together to keep you guys performing no matter what, which is in my opinion a good thing.”

Do you think Francis Ngannou and Jairzinho Rozenstruik will end up fighting?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 3/16/2020.