Coronavirus

It took 400,000 man-hours and 350 tons of metal -- but now Fight Island is ready to roll and it looks AMAZING!!!

Dana White just dropped the hype video showing the tremendous effort it took to bring Fight Island to life in just a few months ... transforming part of Yas Island in Abu Dhabi into a city custom-built for the UFC.

Of course, Fight Island was created to provide a safe place for the UFC to host fights in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic -- so, there was clearly an emphasis on testing facilities on the premises.

There are 17 medical personnel stationed on the island, according to UFC -- and they've already administered more than 2,000 tests.

You can see in the video the massive construction effort it took to erect the main fight arena, the beach Octagon and other facilities necessary to host all of the upcoming UFC events.

White has said all fighters and their crews will undergo 5 rounds of testing -- starting with tests before they board their flights to Yas Island.

Once on the island, there will be 3 more rounds of testing before the fights -- and then a final post-fight test before fighters are allowed to fly home.

There is a massive security presence on the Island to keep things safe -- and Dana White is fired up!

"I can't wait to get there," White said.

The first event on Fight Island is UFC 251 on July 11 -- featuring some crazy bouts ... including Kamaru Usman vs. Gilbert Burns.

Max Holloway is fighting Alexander Volkanovski and Paige VanZant is fighting Amanda Ribas.

President Trump is ditching plans to hold a rally in Alabama next weekend ... and it seems his campaign is finally taking COVID-19 seriously amid rising infections in the U.S.

The Prez was scheduled to visit Alabama ahead of its Senate race between Jeff Sessions, his former attorney general, and Tommy Tuberville, the former Auburn head football coach, but plans were scrapped as Alabama officials started voicing concerns about a mass gathering amid the pandemic.

Trump's campaign ultimately decided against another rally like the one in Tulsa ... where masks and face coverings were not required and campaign staffers ordered the removal of social distancing signage.

Alabama's Governor Kay Ivey announced a state order Tuesday encouraging face coverings in public and prohibiting non-work-related gatherings of any size where social distancing cannot be maintained ... which makes a massive rally unfeasible. Coronavirus cases in Alabama are also on the rise again.

The scrapped rally is just the latest sign some of the President's allies are getting serious about COVID-19 concerns -- even if he isn't yet.

Donald Trump Jr. now says "I don't think it's too complicated to wear a mask or wash your hands and follow basic hygiene protocols." Mitch McConnell finally said wearing a mask can't be stigmatized, and wearing face coverings in public are part of American's new routine in the pandemic.

A melee broke out in Arkansas when one restaurant customer felt others were too close for comfort -- but they all got much closer while breaking bottles and punching each other.

This nasty fight went down at the Saltgrass Steak House in Little Rock, and the video shows four grown adults just going at it Saturday night. According to cops, tensions started rising when one patron complained about social distancing.

You can see her -- the complaining someone else had coughed on her.

Here's your scorecard ... based on the police report, obtained by TMZ: the black woman claims the white guy (in the USA shirt) and his friends were not staying 6-feet away from her ... and when she expressed her frustration, they started harassing her.

Now, in the report ... there are differing accounts of who started coughing purposely on people. At any rate, everyone agrees things escalated from there -- and in the video, you see the brawl really exploded when a Black guy at the bar turned around with a bottle or glass ... and smashed another guy in the head.

The NHL is releasing its COVID-19 numbers ... with the league reporting 26 out of roughly 250 players have tested positive for the virus since June 8.

The NHL allowed small groups of players to start training at their team facilities earlier this month as part of its Phase 2 of returning to action ... and says it has handed out more than 1,450 tests during that period.

"All players who have tested positive have been self-isolated and are following CDC and Health Canada protocols," the NHL said Monday.

The news comes a week after the Tampa Bay Lightning had to shut down their facility after at least 3 players tested positive for COVID-19. The facility has since reopened.

"The NHL will continue to provide regular updates on the number of tests administered to Players and the results of those tests."

Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Mike Leake is the first MLB player to officially opt out of the 2020 season ... with his agent confirming the news Monday morning.

The 32-year-old -- who nearly had a perfect game last season -- released a statement via Danny Horwits ... saying he will not be participating in the league's shortened 60-game plan next month.

"During this global pandemic, Mike and his family had many discussions about playing this season," the agent told ESPN's Jeff Passan.

"They took countless factors into consideration, many of which are personal to him and his family."

Horwits continued ... "After thorough consideration, he has chosen to opt out of playing in 2020. This was not an easy decision for Mike."

The agent did not reveal the reason Leake decided to sit out the season ... but more players are expected to follow leading up to next month's training camp.

"He wishes the best of luck and health for his Diamondback teammates this season and he's looking forward to 2021."

Leake's been a solid pitcher in the league since he made his debut in 2010 ... and won 12 games for the Mariners and Diamondbacks last year.

The coronavirus pandemic is keeping the curtain closed on Broadway ... at least through the end of the year.

The Broadway League announced Monday all Broadway performances in New York City are on hold for the next 6 months and beyond due to COVID-19.

While there is no exact date for the curtain to open on Broadway, producers say they are now offering refunds and exchanges for tickets purchased to performances through Jan. 3.

The Broadway League says it's just not safe to host throngs of fans for indoor performances in the pandemic -- not to mention the cast, crew and orchestra -- so things remain in a holding pattern.

As you know ... Broadway has been shuttered since March 12, and the shutdown was previously extended through June 7 and then Sept. 6.

It's been almost 4 months since Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19 ... but his sense of smell is still MIA.

The Utah Jazz star was one of the first cases of coronavirus in pro sports when it was confirmed on March 11 ... leading to the shut down of the 2019-20 NBA season.

One of the common symptoms is loss of smell and taste -- and the 28-year-old Frenchman is telling L'Equipe he still isn't fully recovered in that sense.

"The taste has returned, but the smell is still not 100%," Gobert said in French.

"I can smell the smells, but not from afar. I spoke to specialists, who told me that it could take up to a year."

Remember, Gobert was the guy who famously joked around about COVID-19 ... jokingly touching a bunch of microphones and other recording devices at a press conference before he formally tested positive.

Afterward, Gobert's teammate, Donovan Mitchell, tested positive -- leading to a rift between the two.

Chase Rice got back to touring this weekend -- and to kick things off ... the guy allowed thousands of people to flood a concert venue, with ZERO regards for coronavirus safety.

The country singer held his first show in a while Saturday night at former prison-turned-event center called the Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary in Petros, Tennessee. It usually can hold 10,000 bodies for a concert, but this weekend ... only 4,000 were allowed through.

Still, that proved to be more than enough heads to pack in tight and cluster together for Chase's return to the stage. That's exactly what happened, something he filmed himself.

As you can see, swarms of people are too close for comfort -- not practicing even the slightest hint of social distancing -- and practically NOBODY is wearing a face mask, Chase included. It's more about the people on the ground though -- they're the ones truly at risk.

It also doesn't help that Chase was leading them in a sing-along moment -- which probably exacerbated any type of potential 'rona molecules already flying through the air. And, of course -- like many other parts of the country -- COVID-19 cases are spiking in TN as well.

Weirdly enough, the Brushy Prison's site says it clear as day that they'll be adhering to social distancing -- but it looks like they must've missed their own memo come showtime.

What's even stranger about all this is that a handful of other venues for Chase's upcoming concerts are actually drive-in type facilities, which would ease concerns we see here. So, was this s*** show of safety just a flub or a one-off? Hard to say for sure right now.

At any rate, we've reached out to Chase's team for comment ... so far, no word back.

President Trump's campaign staff reportedly told arena staff members to remove social distancing signs before they opened the doors, and there's video showing folks doing just that.

The story was reported by the Washington Post and Billboard -- with the former citing sources familiar with the situation ... and the latter getting one of the venue's main overseers on record. The VP of ASM Global -- the company that manages the BOK Center in downtown Tulsa -- told the magazine that Trump's campaign had, in fact, given the order.

The VP, Doug Thornton, says the campaign instructed them to stop labeling every other seat with "Do Not Sit Here, Please!" stickers, which the arena staff had already done to nearly every row. The place sits 19,000 -- so, at least 9,500 were presumably used.

There was even video captured and posted by WaPo that shows a few men with badges going around and actually removing those stickers. It's shot from a distance, so it's hard to make out what the stickers say, but it seems pretty clear they were the ones in question.

It's unclear if these guys are Trump staffers or arena staffers. In any case, it's a smoking gun.

This is insane, considering the BOK Center was actually trying to do the right thing and take safety precautions ... only to be thwarted by the man's own team come showtime.

Of course, if you saw the rally live -- not to mention the people lining up to get in before doors opened -- you know it was already a 'rona danger zone. Now, the place ended up being mostly empty inside, especially those upper rows. Still, those that were there did pack in like sardines, and now, we appear to know why -- at least partially, anyway.

Jabari Parker just told the world he'd contracted coronavirus -- and less than 3 days later, the guy doesn't appear to be in isolation ... but rather, he's playing tennis in public.

The Sacramento Kings star was spotted Saturday in Chicago's Longfellow Park, where he was rallying with a buddy on the other end of the net ... all smiles, and without a mask. Mind you, he'd just announced a few days earlier that he had test positive for COVID-19.

It's hard to say what we should make of these photos of him seemingly doing just fine in light of that. On the one hand, it's kind of a bad look -- but also, it might be perfectly understandable ... as we don't know the exact status of his recovery at the moment.

In his statement through the Kings, Jabari said he found out his diagnosis "several days ago," but didn't specify when or how long he's been quarantined in Chi-Town. You'd like to assume he's on the tail end of his 14-day isolation here, but we just don't know.

Another somewhat troubling sign -- sources tell us Jabari was recently seen out at a restaurant there in the Windy City. Again, unclear if he's all better now or still sick.

A Trader Joe's was the backdrop for an explosion of anger by a customer who felt it was her right to shop without a face mask.

The woman came to the San Fernando Valley store Friday wearing a mask ... the manager tells TMZ. At some point, as she was shopping the mask disappeared from her face. She says she has a breathing problem and that's why she took the mask off, but her lungs were filled with anger as her voice billowed through the store.

Either way ... we're told employees approached the woman and asked her to cover her face, but she refused. At that point, she goes insane, suggesting this was some sort of conspiracy by Democrats.

She was ordered to leave the store -- which she did.

UFC's Dan Hooker admits he was initially "hesitant" about fighting in Nevada over the weekend due to the looming COVID threat ... but says he trusts Dana White to keep everyone safe.

30-year-old Hooker -- the #5 ranked UFC lightweight -- hails from New Zealand ... where the COVID numbers are incredibly low.

In fact, New Zealand has essentially been unscathed by coronavirus ... with only 1,170 confirmed cases, and 22 deaths.

To compare, the U.S. has more than 2.5 million confirmed cases ... with 126,000 deaths.

Nevada alone has roughly 11 times the number of cases as all of NZ.

"We have no cases actually in New Zealand and then coming over here I was a little bit hesitant to know about the safety precautions," Hooker tells us.

So, Hooker had a serious decision to make when White offered him the chance to fight Dustin Poirier on June 27 to headline UFC Fight Night at the APEX center in Vegas.

Hooker says he was reluctant to fly right into the COVID hornet's nest ... but ultimately he swayed after learning about the UFC's intense screening process.

"I feel comfortable. I've been here for 3 days and soon as we arrived, we got tested. Getting tested again [Friday], we get temperature checks every morning and they got security at every single door making sure that people can't come and go," Hooker says.

"I'm very confident in the precautions that the UFC has in place."

Now, Hooker is focused on Poirier -- the #3 ranked UFC lightweight ... and a win could put Hooker in the mix for a title shot.

FYI, Hooker is on a tear at the moment ... winning 7 of his last 8 fights over guys like Gilbert Burns, Paul Felder and Al Iaquinta.