Visa issues knock seven Brazilians out of UFC 250, including Jose Aldo, Shogun Rua

The coronavirus pandemic has forced several Brazilian fighters out of UFC 250, multiple sources told MMA Fighting.

The pay-per-view event was originally scheduled for May 9 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, but the local government decided to use the arena as a field hospital to treat patients infected by the virus. With the card moved to the United States and consulates closed all over Brazil, fighters can’t apply for a work visa to compete on U.S. soil.

Jose Aldo was booked to challenge Henry Cejudo for the 135-pound championship in the main event and kept training self-quarantined at home during the COVID-19 outbreak, but was forced to withdraw from the show. Combate first reported Aldo's withdrawal, adding that former bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz is expected to serve as Aldo’s replacement.

The same goes for Aldo’s teammate Ketlen Vieira, who was matched up against Marion Reneau.

A trilogy bout between Mauricio Rua and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira is also off since neither athlete has a visa to fight in the United States.

Bethe Correia, Augusto Sakai and Carlos Felipe also can’t work in the country due to the lack of a proper visa, meaning they are out of scheduled matches with Pannie Kianzad, Blagoy Ivanov and Sergey Spivak, respectively.

Only two Brazilian fighters remain on the card. Amanda Nunes puts her featherweight title on the line against Felicia Spencer and Fabricio Werdum battles Alexey Oleinik. All four fighters live and train in the U.S.