Given UFC 251 is a stacked card already, I wonder why they don’t just post-pone Usman v Burns until the 18th or 25th. Double the bonuses for those cards, and hopefully you get more finishes and not time-pressured due to the extra fight. I’m sure that’ll be cheaper than last minute negotiations with JM. Alternatively, they could post-pone one of the main event bouts for those cards in order to fit in Usman v Burns and pay the cancelled fighters both attendance and win bonuses to keep them happy with a promise of a fight in the near future.
If they’re going to try for the 11th, JM will be demanding a very high price and a rematch clause, I would imagine. I’d love to see it.
Edit: I am assuming that Burns tested positively on screening and is asymptomatic.