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TheCOVID-19 pandemic has caused a significant disruption to different combat sports, particularly during the years of 2020 into 2021.
ONE Championship moved its 28 February "King of the Jungle" event behind closed doors, and announced that its ONE Infinity 1 event on 10 April would move fromChongqing, China toJakarta, Indonesia.[1] On 13 March, ONE announced that all cards would be held behind closed doors in Singapore until ONE Infinity 1 on 29 May, re-located toManila, Philippines (which was originally to host ONE Infinity 2). The ONE Championship "Heart of Heroes" event inVietnam (originally scheduled for 20 March) was postponed to June.[2][3][4] On 6 April, due to lockdown orders issued by the Singapore government that restrict non-essential business, ONE announced that the two April cards would be postponed.[5]
On 9 March,Combate Americas announced that its March events would be cancelled and replaced by closed-door tapings beginning 3 April.[6] On 10 March, Polish MMA promotionKonfrontacja Sztuk Walki (KSW) cancelled its 21 March 2020 event KSW 53 inŁódź.[7] On 13 March,Bellator canceledBellator 241 inUncasville, Connecticut (which was scheduled to occur later that day), and has since canceled all events through May.[8][9]
The main North American promotionUFC went on with its 13 March eventUFC Fight Night: Lee vs. Oliveira inBrasília,Brazil, behind closed doors.[6][10] On 16 March, UFC announced that the next three UFC Fight Night events,Overeem vs. Harris,Ngannou vs. Rozenstruik, andWoodley vs. Edwards, would be postponed to future dates.[11]
In regards to its nextpay-per-view,UFC 249 on 18 April, UFC presidentDana White stated that the event would likely go on, but at a new venue behind closed doors. It was originally to be held at New York City'sBarclays Center, but astay-at-home order was issued by the New York state government.[11] On 18 March, theNew York State Athletic Commission also withdrew its sanctioning for the event.[12] Due to international travel restrictions and other withdrawals, a revised card for UFC 249 was unveiled 6 April with a location still being determined.[13][14] On 7 April, White disclosed that he had booked an unspecified venue for two months, in order to host both UFC 249 and other future events involving U.S. fighters. He also disclosed plans to secure a "private island" to host events with international fighters.[15][16]
The new UFC 249 venue was subsequently revealed to beTachi Palace—atribal casino inLemoore, California; as it is on tribal land, it also fell outside of the jurisdiction of theCalifornia State Athletic Commission, meaning that events held there could be self-sanctioned.[12] On 9 April, UFC announced that UFC 249 had been canceled, and all other UFC events would be suspended until further notice. White cited interventions from high-ranking staff of the UFC's U.S. media rightsholders,ESPN Inc. and parentThe Walt Disney Company.[17] Despite the cancellation, White stated that he was still going on with his "Fight Island" project.[17]
The UFC later announced on 24 April that it would resume its events with a series of three cards held behind closed doors at theVyStar Veterans Memorial Arena inJacksonville, Florida, beginning withUFC 249 on 9 May, along with two other cards on 13 May (UFC Fight Night: Smith vs. Teixeira) and 16 May (UFC on ESPN: Overeem vs. Harris). Florida had recently exempted sporting events held behind closed doors for a national audience from its stay-at-home order. White also announced a planned card at an undetermined location on 23 May, and plans to begin events at his "Fight Island" in June.[18] TheNevada Athletic Commission approved the hosting ofUFC on ESPN: Woodley vs. Burns on 30 May, andUFC 250 on 6 June, both at the company'sUFC Apex studios inLas Vegas.[19][20]
On 9 June, White revealed that "Fight Island" was a bio-secure bubble onYas Island inAbu Dhabi,United Arab Emirates, which hostedUFC 251 on 11 July, and three other UFC Fight Night cards through the remainder of the month.[21] In this bubble, all participants and staff were required totest negative forSARS-CoV-2 multiple times before traveling to or entering the bubble, and individuals entering the arena were required to go through disinfecting "mist tunnels".[22] A second series of events on Yas Island was held in late-September and October 2020, featuringUFC 253, three Fight Night cards, andUFC 254.[23][24] A third series of Fight Island events was held in January 2021; this time, the events were held with a limited in-person attendance at the newly openedEtihad Arena—UFC's first events to do so since the pandemic began.[25][26][27]
The first U.S.-based UFC event with spectators wasUFC 261 in April 2021, at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. The event was held without capacity limits, and stated to be the first U.S. indoor sporting event to do so.[28] While numbered UFC events in have since been held in other states with loosened restrictions, such as Arizona and Texas, White stated in May 2021 that his preference was to only host major UFC events in areas that have lifted restrictions on arena capacity for indoor sporting events, and that lower-profile Fight Night cards would continue to be held at UFC Apex for the time being.[29]
Kunlun Fight cancelled multiple events.[30][31]
Glory cancelled events inLint, Belgium andMiami, Florida.[32]
Numerouspromotions canceled major events, such asImpact Wrestling'sTNA: There's No Place Like Home,Ring of Honor's18th Anniversary Show, and theNational Wrestling Alliance'sCrockett Cup in the United States.[33] Impact, ROH, and NWA also cancelled future tapings for their respective weekly television shows until further notice.[34][35][36] In Mexico,Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre cancelled tapings for their weekly shows for the foreseeable future andLucha Libre AAA Worldwide postponed the2020 Rey de Reyes event.[37][38]
In accordance with recommendations from the Japanese Ministry of Health,New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) decided to cancel all scheduled shows from 1 March through 15 March.[39] On 10 March, NJPW announced that they were cancelling all shows through 22 March, and postponed most notably the2020 New Japan Cup.[40] TheStardom promotion, sister company of NJPW also owned byBushiroad, also made adjustments to their scheduled, cancelling shows from 19 February to 14 March. Their show of 8 March inKorakuen Hall was held without any spectators in attendance, instead streaming live on theirYouTube channel.[41] On 23 March, NJPW would later cancel the 2020Sakura Genesis event that was originally scheduled to take place on 31 March.[42][43] On 8 April, NJPW would cancel more events from 11 April through 4 May, including the entireWrestling Dontaku, which was not rescheduled.[44] On 6 May, NJPW cancelled their annualBest of the Super Juniors tournament.[45] The next day, NJPW postponed their Wrestle Dynasty event to 2021, which was to take place inMadison Square Garden in New York.[46] On 9 June, NJPW announced their return with special show with a mystery match card calledTogether Special on 15 June and the rescheduled New Japan Cup would now be held from 16 June until 11 July, with the finals being held atOsaka-jō Hall inOsaka alongsideDominion in Osaka-jo Hall being rescheduled to 12 July 2020.[47][48]
American promotionWWE began to move the broadcasts of its weekly programsSmackDown andRaw (which usually broadcast from arenas) behind closed doors to itsOrlandotraining facility, theWWE Performance Center, beginning withSmackDown on March 13, completely absent of an audience and only essential staff in attendance. Due to theawkward silence of the dead venue, wrestling matches were heavily narrative during this era with the combatants vocalizing their storyline thoughts and engaged in excessivetrash talk among one another.[49][50][51] The promotion also cancelled or postponed many of its previously scheduledhouse shows during this era.[52]
WrestleMania 36—WWE's flagshippay-per-view event—was originally scheduled to be held atRaymond James Stadium inTampa. On 16 March, WWE announced that it would also be produced from the Performance Center and air across two nights (4 and 5 April).[53][54][55] WrestleMania Weekend's associated events, such as theNXT TakeOver: Tampa Baycard (which was scheduled forAmalie Arena) andWWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony were also postponed to unannounced dates, though TakeOver was ultimately canceled with its planned matches moved to weekly episodes ofNXT.[56] Matches for WrestleMania, as well as the final two episodes ofSmackDown and final episode ofRaw before WrestleMania, were recorded in advance at the Performance Center between 21 and 26 March.[57] While the majority of matches were filmed in the Performance Center arena and presented plausibly live, two matches were filmed off-site in different,cinematic styles.[58][59][60]
After continuing with pre-taped episodes for thego-home shows after WrestleMania, WWE announced that its weekly series would resume live broadcasts on 13 April, withRaw andSmackDown from the Performance Center as before, andNXT taped from its existing studio atFull Sail University inWinter Park.[61][62] WWE told ESPN that "it is now more important than ever to provide people with a diversion from these hard times", and that its programming "bring[s] families together and deliver a sense of hope, determination and perseverance".[62] WWE also confirmed that one of its employees had contracted COVID-19 after a meeting with two health care workers on 26 March, but that the exposure occurred after production had wrapped; the employee had not made any contact with WWE staff since and they made a complete recovery.[62][63][64] Wrestling journalistsDave Meltzer noted that WWE's television contracts withFox andUSA Network likely restricted the number of non-live episodes it could broadcast per-year (accommodating breaks in live broadcasts usually held around theChristmas andNew Year holidays).[65]
WWE's next PPV,Money in the Bank, was expected to be held atBaltimore'sRoyal Farms Arena in May, but was canceled by the arena on 9 April.[66][67] On 17 April, WWE announced that the show'seponymous Money in the Bank matches (where wrestlers compete to retrieve abriefcase suspended above the ring with aladder, containing a contract granting rights to challenge one of WWE's world championships at any point within the next year) would take place at itsworld headquarters building inStamford, Connecticut, with a new "corporate ladder" gimmick where the briefcases would be suspended above a ring on the building's roof; the wrestlers began on the ground floor of the building and fought their way to the roof. The rest of the event occurred live at the Performance Center.[68]
On 9 April, Florida's Division of Emergency Management added an exemption to the state stay-at-home order for employees of a "professional sports and media production with a national audience", if closed to the general public.[69][70] On 13 April, Mayor ofOrange County, FloridaJerry Demings acknowledged the change during a news conference, stating that they were made following consultations with the office of Governor of FloridaRon DeSantis, and that they would allow WWE to continue its operations.[71][72] It was reported that WWE had received repeated warnings by state officials over the stay-at-home order, but that DeSantis considered the operation critical to the state economy, and accommodated them by allowing the aforementioned changes.[73][71]
DeSantis acknowledged the changes the next day, explaining that viewers were "starved" for sports content, and that the new exception could also be theoretically used by other sporting events.[69] The same day, U.S. presidentDonald Trump announced that he was forming an economic advisory group to address the country's emergence and "reopening" from the pandemic; WWE owner and chairmanVince McMahon was named to the group (alongside other major sports commissioners and team owners). McMahon has been an ally of Trump, who has also made appearances on WWE programming in the past, and is also a member of the celebrity wing of the company'sHall of Fame.[74][75][76][77]
On 28 August, WWE moved its weeklyRaw andSmackDown shows, as well as pay-per-views, to Orlando'sAmway Center. The centerpiece of the new setup is "ThunderDome," an in-arena staging incorporating a virtual audience and larger-scale arena show.[78] In October 2020, NXT re-located to the Performance Center from Full Sail University, using a remodeled main arena dubbed the "Capitol Wrestling Center", which features a virtual audience and limited in-person attendance.[79] On 11 December, the ThunderDome set was relocated toTropicana Field inSt. Petersburg, Florida, as WWE vacated Amway Center to make room for its professional sports tenants.[80]
On 16 January 2021, WWE announced thatWrestleMania 37 would be re-located fromSoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California to Raymond James Stadium as a two-night event, as compensation for the previous year's changes, with SoFi Stadium given WrestleMania 39 in 2023 instead.[81] Attendance for WrestleMania 37 was capped at 25,000 per-night.[82] After the event, WWE returned to closed tapings, with the ThunderDome set re-located once more to Tampa'sYuengling Center, on the campus of theUniversity of South Florida.[83]
On 21 May, WWE announced that it would return to in-person touring shows in mid-July, withSmackDown, theMoney in the Bank pay-per-view, andRaw to be held in Houston, Fort Worth, and Dallas on 16, 18, and 19 July respectively.[84][85][86]
On 12 March,All Elite Wrestling (AEW) announced the relocation of its two remaining live broadcasts ofDynamite onTNT for the month of March, scheduled forRochester, New York andNewark, New Jersey respectively (with the latter originally scheduled to feature AEW's "Blood and Guts" event, also indefinitely postponed),[87] to an alternative location with no audience. AEW stated that it had re-booked the two cities for future episodes in July.[52][88] AEW subsequently cancelled on-locationDynamite broadcasts through at least 13 May.[89][90]
Beginning on 15 March, AEW began to originateDynamite from a closed stage atTIAA Bank Field'sDaily's Place amphitheater inJacksonville, Florida.[91] Beginning with 1 April episode,Dynamite moved to an undisclosed location to prevent fans from attempting to interact with the wrestlers;[92] the location was later reported to be inNorcross, Georgia. On 3 April, after a state-wide stay-at-home order was issued, it was reported that AEW had also pre-recorded content forDynamite on 1 and 2 April, and that they had amassed enough content "for weeks if not months if necessary."[93]
AEW's next pay-per-view event,Double or Nothing, was originally scheduled to take place at theMGM Grand Garden Arena inParadise, Nevada on 23 May. The venue, however, canceled all events up through 31 May due to the pandemic.[94] The event was subsequently moved to Daily's Place (with nearbyTIAA Bank Field hosting a deliberateempty arena "Stadium Stampede" match).[95] On 27 August, AEW began to hold events with spectators, again at Daily's Place. These events were to be ticketed and carry between 10%-15% capacity.[96]
Despite the Marchtournament inOsaka taking place behind closed doors without a hitch, bar one wrestler (Chiyomaru) having temporarily withdrawn from the tournament with a fever whilst undergoing tests; both the Tokyo tournament in May and the Nagoya tournament in July were initially postponed by two weeks on 4 April. The July tournament had been previously moved forward a week to avoid conflict with the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, which have since been postponed a year.[97][98]
A week later, theJapan Sumo Association confirmed the sport's first case when an undisclosed wrestler in the lower ranks, was tested positive after developing a fever some six days earlier. This led to all wrestlers and officials being ordered to stay indoor until further notice.[99]
Following the extension of Japan's national state of emergency until 31 May, the Sumo Association officially cancelled the 2020 May tournament on 4 May. It was the second cancellation of a tournament since 1946, and the first since March 2011 amidst amatch-fixing scandal.[100]
Several wrestlers who caught the virus,Sandanme 11 wrestlerShobushi ofTakadagawa stable was later confirmed to be the first one tested positive for COVID-19, who died from multiple organ failure on 13 May. In January 2021,yokozunaHakuhō tested positive for COVID-19.[101][102][103]
The July 2020 tournament, originally to be held inNagoya, was moved to Tokyo and began on 19 July, with a maximum of 2,500 spectators per day allowed, about a quarter of theRyōgoku Kokugikan's 11,000 capacity to reduce unnecessary travel across the Japanese countryside. In subsequent months, the tournaments in November 2020 and March 2021 were originally to be held inFukuoka andOsaka, respectively. In both considerations, all tournaments remained in Tokyo with an increase of 5,000 spectators per day were allowed.[104][105][106]
On 23 April 2021, the Sumo Association announced theMay tournament would take place behind closed doors for the first three days of the competition following Japan's fourth wave of increasing virus cases and extending state of emergency in theGreater Tokyo Area.[107]
The July 2022 tournament went ahead with no limits on spectators for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic.[108] However, the tournament was badly hit by withdrawal of wrestlers, as the Sumo Association demands an entire stable quarantine if one wrestler there tests positive. By Day 13, eleven of sumo's 43 stables had been affected, with 158 wrestlers in total forced to withdraw. This included thirteen elitesekitori ranked wrestlers.[109]
An October 2020 story byESPN journalist Marc Raimondi made the case that combat sports face long-lasting negative effects from the pandemic. While many top-flight competitions and promotions have returned to operation, Raimondi pointed out,
The coronavirus pandemic has ravaged the regional and local scenes in combat sports, doing untold damage to the long-term future of MMA, boxing and professional wrestling. The nextFloyd Mayweather orConor McGregor has probably not fought in 2020. Many athletes cannot even train with consistency due to gym closures. The combat-sports pipeline -- from amateur to prospect to contender to superstar -- has cracked, and stakeholders aren't sure how or when it will be fully repaired.[110]
TheTapology website, which tracks MMA fights worldwide, reported that the worldwide number of sanctioned MMA fights dropped by over 80% from 2019 to 2020, as measured from 1 March to 1 September of each year. The U.S. saw an even greater drop in total fights during that time frame. During the March–September 2019 period,Zuffa, the parent company of UFC, accounted for 4.4% of U.S. MMA fights. The company was responsible for more than 20% of U.S. MMA fights during the same period in 2020—despite only runningone event in the country in March, April, or July. Boxing also saw slightly less dramatic declines in the same period; theBoxRec website reported a drop in total bouts of over 65% worldwide and over 55% in the U.S.[110]