The planned second show for fledgling ARES Fighting Championship has been postponed due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Promotion officials announced the news Friday in a press release.
ARES 2 had been expected to take place on April 3 in Brussels, Belgium. However, with fears over the quickly spreading global pandemic escalating, the promotion has opted to push the show back to October 30, 2020.
In Friday’s release, ARES FC stated that “The coronavirus epidemic raises serious questions about contagion in closed environments. We don’t know at this stage how the situation will evolve. The health of our audience, international fighters, and staff is our utmost concern and we are not willing to take any unnecessary risks.”
ARES 2 was to feature a host of notable names, including Canada’s Nordine Taleb, former UFC flyweight John Moraga, former UFC heavyweight Luis Henrique, PFL notable Chris Curtis, and others.
Last month, ONE Championship became the first promotion to hold an event in an empty arena due to COVID-19. King of the Jungle took place at the Singapore Indoor Arena in Kallang, Singapore on February 28. However, ticket buyers were issued refunds when it was decided to err on the side of caution, and have fans stay home.
As of this writing, there are approximately 100,728 diagnosed cases of the virus worldwide. The mortality rate to date has hovered somewhere between 3 and 6%.
