UFC 249 Odds – Jacare Souza tests positive for COVID-19 and Stephens Misses Weight

Al Mac's photo By May 9, 2020
UFC 249 Weigh In Souza Covid-19 positive

ESPN reported on Friday night that the UFC Middleweight Jacare Souza has tested positive for COVID19 and his bout with Uriah Hall at UFC 249 has been called off.

The news comes out on Friday night after Souza’s ‘social distanced face off. As reported by ESPN MMA’s Brett Okamoto; UFC Chief Business Officer Hunter Campbell told ESPN the news on Friday evening. Souza’s test results came back today after Souza and Hall squared off for a ‘social distanced face off.’

According to the ESPN report, Souza landed in Jacksonville on Wednesday and notified the UFC of a family member testing positive for COVID19. The UFC told ESPN that Jacare was put into isolation, was tested, and was found to be asymptomatic at the time of his screening. However, as multiple MMA media members have reported, Souza was seen on Friday prior to the weigh-ins and was in fact barefoot when stepping on the official scale. As the ESPN report says, the confirmation of Souza’s positive test did not come until after the Souza/Hall stare down. Souza, the 40yr old from Brazil was set to face fellow UFC middleweight Uriah Hall at UFC 249, with Souza sitting as a -116 favorite at the time of the fight’s cancellation.

Florida Atheltic Commission says UFC 249 will go on.

MMA media reported on Friday night that the Florida State Athletic Commission was ‘still very comfortable with UFC 249 proceeding despite the positive test.’ the commission official was pleased with the protocol followed by the UFC after the positive test was discovered. The state official added by saying ‘the system worked.’

As reported on Friday evening by ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, the remaining 23 fighters on the UFC 249 roster all tested negative for COVID19. Further, it was reported that Jacare Souza has been removed from the UFC’s hotel and will be put into immediate isolation.

Other News: Jeremy Stephens misses weight.

In other UFC 249 betting news; 23 of 24 fighters made weight for UFC 249, with lightweight Jeremy Stephens missing the lightweight limit of 150.5lbs by 4.5lbs. Stephens will now be fined 30% of his fight purse, and the Lightweight bout will only have division ranking implications for Kattar, but not Stephens. Speculation arose on Friday that Stephens may still be bothered by an injury that held him out of his fight with Kattar on March 7th at UFC 248. If the injury Stephens sustained is a leg or abdominal injury, that would cause significant difficulty in weight cutting.

Keep an eye UFC 249 odds for this bout, as the favorite may climb well beyond reasonable value, on the heels of rumors of a suspected injury. Clavin Kattar opened as a -250 favorite at most shops in this bout and was climbing to as high as -270 by this morning. After the news of Stephens’ missed weight, Kattar’s money line has seen some buyback and has started to move back towards his opening number. This is likely based on the idea that with Stephens now 4.5lbs overweight, that he will have more punching power than Kattar, thus why we’re seeing action coming in on Stephens.

Calvin Kattar is currently +230 to win this fight inside the distance. Volatility will be at an all-time high for this event, as the timing and conditioning of some of these fighters may not as finetuned as normal. Considering, these fights are not exactly happening in a vacuum without outside circumstance, be wary of big favorites, and expect the value to come in on the underdog. Let’s enjoy the fights and stay tuned for Al Mac’s Best Bets!

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