Fil-Am MMA fighter serves as frontliner in NYC

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

A former UFC fighter and a finalist in the Ultimate Fighter, Filipino-American Phillipe Nover is currently standing up as one of our heroes in battling the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nover, a registered nurse, is one of the health workers assigned at Cath Lab in New York City, helping not only NYC but the entire US in controlling the virus.

Three years ago, Nover was spending most of his time as an MMA fighter in UFC with a record of 11-8-1 but later on, decided to shift focus and pursued his profession as a nurse full-time.

Nover said that in times like this, nurses like him don’t have the time to clamor about their workload, so everyone should step up in combating the pandemic.

“As healthcare professionals in any environment within the hospital, we’re what society counts on. We have to provide healthcare to the community. So when it comes down to risking ourselves, we do it every day,” Nover added.

Also, Nover emphasized how quite ill-prepared New York City was when the pandemic surged including shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE).

The lack of test kits also led to a rapid COVID-19 spread around NYC in just a matter of weeks, creating havoc among the people around.