Rose Namajunas' Reason for Withdrawing From UFC 249 is Incredibly Tragic

The fight card scheduled for UFC 249 took a hit Wednesday as Rose Namajunas, who was scheduled to take on Jessica Andrade in the co-main event, suddenly pulled out of the fight. It wasn't immediately clear why she pulled out, but now, the tragic circumstances surrounding her decision not to fight April 18 have been made public.

In a press release from her manager, Brian Butler, he shared that Namajunas has lost two family members due to complications from the coronavirus, and would like to spend time with her family. It is an incredibly sad development for the former UFC women's strawweight champion, and we can all fully respect her decision to seek privacy during this most difficult of times.

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Immediate release: @rosenamajunas withdrew from UFC 249 due to 2 deaths in the family related to the Coronavirus. Her hopes are to return to the Octagon as soon as possible but for now we ask for people to respect their privacy during this time.

A post shared by Brian Butler-Au (@suckerpunchent) on Apr 9, 2020 at 12:14pm PDT

It is a reminder that these fighters are far from immune to the effects of this pandemic, even as Dana White does everything in his power to try and make sure UFC 249 and subsequent events all go ahead despite all the challenges. Rose can take as much time away from the Octagon as she needs; fighting in the UFC again is surely the last thing on her mind right now.

Per Rose Namajunas manager, she withdrew from UFC 249 due to two deaths in her family related to COVID-19. Best wishes to her and her family, of course. https://t.co/sDkNDnDGpO
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) April 9, 2020

Our thoughts are with Rose Namajunas and her family during this sad time.