REVISED – UFC 249: Ferguson vs. Gaethje Fight Card
UFC 249: Ferguson vs. Gaethje
Date: May 9, 2020
Venue: VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena
Location: Jacksonville, Florida
gate: No ticket sales
attendance:No audience in attendance
Fighter Awards & Bonuses ($50,000 each)
– Fight of the Night: XXX
– Performance of the Night: XXX
– Performance of the Night: XXX
A Brief UFC 249 History
UFC 249: Khabib vs. Ferguson was initially slated to take place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. Restrictions put in place because of the coronavirus pandemic nixed the location and forced Khabib Nurmagomedov out of the main event.
UFC officials inked a new main event between Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje for an interim lightweight championship. The event had been moved to a new location somewhere in the United States, but company president Dana White kept the location a secret amidst concerns about COVID-19 restrictions.
It eventually came to light that UFC 249 had been rescheduled for the Tachi Palace Casino Resort on Native American tribal land in California. That was nixed when UFC broadcast partner ESPN and its parent company, Disney, asked the UFC to stand down from its planned April 18 date.
White announced on April 24 that a revamped UFC 249 fight card would be held on May 9 in Jacksonville, Fla., with two other events for the same venue in the following week on May 13 and May 16.
UFC 249 on May 9 is expected to mark the UFC’s return to full-time operations since the COVID-19 crisis swept the globe.
UFC 249: Ferguson vs Gaethje Fight Card
Main Card (10 p.m. ET on PPV on ESPN+)
- Tony Ferguson vs. Justin Gaethje*
- Henry Cejudo (c) vs. Dominick Cruz**
- Francis Ngannou vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
- Jeremy Stephens vs. Calvin Kattar
- Greg Hardy vs. Yorgan De Castro
Prelims (8 p.m. ET on ESPN+)
- Donald Cerrone vs Anthony Pettis
- Alexey Oleynik vs. Fabrício Werdum
- Carla Esparza vs. Michelle Waterson
- Uriah Hall vs. Ronaldo Souza
Early Prelims (6:30 p.m. ET on Fight Pass)
- Vicente Luque vs. Niko Price
- Bryce Mitchell vs. Charles Rosa
- Ryan Spann vs. Sam Alvey
*For the interim UFC lightweight championship
**For the UFC bantamweight championship
Dana White confirms Tony Ferguson vs. Justin Gaethje UFC 249 title fight
(Subscribe to MMAWeekly.com on YouTube)
