Jacare Souza admittedly scared of COVID-19, but must compete at UFC 249 to keep his house

Jacare Souza has admitted that he is scared of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, but that he will still fight at UFC 249 in order to help pay his bills.

As of this writing, UFC 249 is scheduled to go ahead on April 18 on tribal land in California. One of the most intriguing undercard fights will see Jacare, 40, go head to head with Ultimate Fighter 17 winner Uriah Hall.

During a recent interview with MMA Fighting, Jacare let the world know how he feels about the pandemic – and how he feels about fighting right now.

“I’m scared, that’s normal. Everyone’s scared,” Jacare said. “We try to keep everyone protected, but I keep thinking about one thing: if I can’t pay my house’s mortgage, if I can’t pay my bills, I’m going to lose my house. If I go out to the streets, that’s when it gets complicated, that’s when they really won’t be protected. I have to take care of my family one way or the other, and I believe… I know the UFC will keep me protected.

“(The UFC) will take care of everybody,” Jacare added. “I can stay home, walk across the street and my neighbor infects me with the coronavirus. This virus is highly contagious. I can stay home and catch it. But I’m going to work. I hope God blesses Dana White and the UFC so they really can make it happen and I can take care of my family with safety.”

“I’ll tell you this, in my years of fighting in the UFC, I’ve been through so many stressing situations that you have no idea, so, to me, this is nothing,” Jacare continued. “This is nothing to me. It’s just another fight I’ll do. I believe they will make the event happen. If they just wanna tell me the location on fight day, it’s fine any me. I’ll be there, I’ll fight, and I’ll win.”

What do you think of these comments from Jacare Souza? 

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 4/9/2020.