Different but doable: UFC’s restart a glimpse into how live sports can work

Workers sanitize the Octagon between fights during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on May 30, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada.In the final seconds of the first round of the first fight back since the coronavirus interrupted sports in Las Vegas, Chris Gutierrez instinctively rushed at Vince Morales after wobbling him with a combination of strikes.

The UFC featherweight’s advance ended prematurely, however, as his cornermen began shouting instruction frantically.

“Don’t get into a brawl,” they commanded repeatedly.

These types of moments happen hundreds of times at the average UFC event, but the fighter often can’t hear his or her team clearly amid the commotion of thousands of fans in cavernous…