Fans attending UFC 261 will hopefully understand the risks of attending the event.
The pay-per-view event takes place April 24 in Jacksonville, Florida, and it’s a big one for many reasons. For starters, there are three title fights in store.
The headliner is a welterweight title rematch between Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal. But more than anything, the event is notable for being the first with full attendance since UFC 248 took place in March last year.
And while the UFC is not breaking any rules to have the event take place, they are still making sure they cannot be indemnified for any fans potentially contracting COVID-19.
The fine print on the UFC 261 tickets make for some interesting reading.
“The Holder fully understands and agrees that…attendance at [UFC 261] may lead to exposure to COVID-19 and that contraction of COVID-19 may result in severe and permanent damage to the health of the Holder and/or others, including, but not limited to, death, fever, weight loss, irreversible pulmonary, respiratory and/or neurological system damage, loss of taste or smell, mental or emotional distress, temporary or permanent disability, loss of income, loss of employment, loss of financial or other opportunities, medical expenses, which may or may not be covered by insurance, cleaning expenses, mandatory self-quarantine, loss of licenses and similar approvals by any regulatory or self-regulatory body…”
The fine print on tickets for #UFC261 😬 pic.twitter.com/4CZNvgdfdx
— MMA Mania (@mmamania) March 26, 2021
UFC 261 Tickets Sold Out
Of course, this isn’t a surprise. After all, the promotion made fighters, staff and media sign a waiver for UFC 249 last year.
However, it does beg the question whether it was wise to host a full attendance event as daily cases continue to be in the tens of thousands while vaccines are still not fully deployed.
That said, fans are seemingly willing to take the risk.
Per UFC officials, next month's #UFC261 “sold out in minutes.” The expected attendance is 15,000 and the event has set the venue record for highest gross.
— John Morgan (@JohnMorgan_MMA) March 26, 2021