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Rose Namajunas pulled out of UFC 249 due to COVID-19 deaths in family, per manager

Former UFC women’s strawweight champion Rose Namajunas pulled out of her rematch with Jessica Andrade on Wednesday, which was supposed to take place at the COVID-19 impacted UFC 249 on April 18. Namajunas withdrew from the fight less than two days after the card was finally announced, and no one knew why she’d decided not to fight Andrade.

Namajunas’s manager, Brian Butler-Au of Sucker Punch Entertainment, put up a post on Instagram explaining why she’s not able to fight on April 18.

According to Butler-Au, two of Namajunas’s family members have died due to complications stemming from COVID-19. Butler-Au didn’t give any further information, only saying that Namajunas hopes to return to the octagon “as soon as possible.”

No replacement has been announced for Namajunas yet. The event, which had to be moved from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn due to COVID-19 restrictions, will reportedly take place at Tachi Palace Casino Resort, which is not on a private island but instead is on tribal land in central California. Being on tribal land means that UFC can skirt the bans on public gatherings and non-essential activities in California and hold their fights without being sanctioned by the California State Athletic Commission.

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