Where The F—k Was Disney, ESPN 6 Weeks Ago?

Photo by Todd Lussier/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Unfortunately, UFC 249 isn’t the only upcoming card suffering from the UFC’s delayed postponements due to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak.

While fight fans were looking forward to a lightweight title fight at UFC 249 later this month, they were also excited to see Henry Cejudo defend his bantamweight title for the first time at UFC 250 on May 9. With high-level executives from Disney and ESPN putting a recent kibosh on all upcoming UFC events Cejudo is no longer in place to defend his 135-pound strap, despite all of the hard work by UFC president Dana White to keep the promotion open for business.

As you may have imagined, Cejudo’s team isn’t too happy about the short-notice changes. Not only have they had to maintain a makeshift training camp amidst a long list of coronavirus restrictions, but they also had Cejudo’s original UFC 250 opponent, Jose Aldo, replaced by former UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz just the other day.

Cejudo’s head coach, Eric Albarracin, recently took to social media to share his frustration with the situation, asking why it took so long for Disney and ESPN to step in and stop UFC from hosting events. Albarracin’s tweet, which has since been deleted, can be seen below (courtesy of BJPenn.com):

“Where the F were the Disney & Espn Heads when the @UFC was telling us all to keep training as usual because the fights are a go for the last 6 weeks,” wrote Albarracin.

This certainly isn’t an ideal situation for any fighter, especially a UFC titleholder looking to maintain his champ-champ status, but desperate times call for desperate measures. UFC and company had to try to keep things rolling although and did for the most part before Disney and ESPN closed up shop. It’s just the nature of the beast nowadays as no other major sports organization is in operation.

Cejudo, 33, is coming off a sensational TKO win over Marlon Moraes at UFC 238 in June of last year to claim the vacant bantamweight title. Before that, “Triple C” was seen taking out T.J. Dillashaw in just 32 seconds at UFC on ESPN+ 1 to defend his flyweight title for the very first time. All things considered, the former Olympic gold medalist proved to be one of the best MMA fighters of 2019.

For now, Team Cejudo will have to sit tight like the rest of us and ready themselves for a massive return to the Octagon (whenever that comes).