White Claims UFC 249 PPV Pre-Buys ‘More Than Double’

Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will be returning to action tomorrow night (Sat., May 9, 2020) to host UFC 249 live on ESPN+ pay-per-view (PPV) from inside VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. It will be the first event for the promotion since UFC Brasilia nearly two months ago due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

“Unbelievable pacing for buys,” said White.

What makes this report even more astonishing is the fact that millions upon millions of people around the world are either unemployed due to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak or struggling to maintain financial security. If UFC 249’s pre-buy rate is doubling throughout the world it truly shows the power of sports and the global reach of UFC as a whole.

I guess this is what you get when you stage the most stacked UFC card of all time.

While fight fans would have loved to see Tony Ferguson take on Khabib Nurmagomedov this weekend at UFC 249, “El Cucuy” will instead fight Justin Gaethje for the interim UFC lightweight title. That main event will cap off a night of incredible fights, which includes notable stars like Henry Cejudo, Francis Ngannou, Dominick Cruz, Donald Cerrone, Anthony Pettis, Ronaldo Souza, Michelle Waterson, Jeremy Stephens and Greg Hardy.

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 249 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the ESPN+/Fight Pass “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard balance on ESPN+/ESPN at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC 249: “Ferguson vs. Gaethje” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.