UFC announces location for UFC 249, plus two more events for week of May 16
The UFC hopes the third time is a charm. It announced via a news release on Friday that an interim lightweight title fight between Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje would headline UFC 249 on May 9 at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida.
Originally scheduled for April 18 in Brooklyn with a lightweight championship match between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Ferguson, the coronavirus pandemic forced the card to be moved. The UFC first moved it to Tachi Palace in Lemoore, California, on the same date, with Ferguson slated to fight Gaethje. But when California Gov. Gavin Newsom went to Disney executives and asked them not to broadcast the bout on ESPN, network president Jimmy Pitaro asked UFC president Dana White to postpone the card.
White agreed.
ESPN is in this time and released a statement to Yahoo Sports:
Sports play an important role in people’s lives and can bring moments of escape in challenging times. We look forward to bringing UFC to fans again.
But White immediately began working on a new venue and got a huge break last week when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared professional sports essential businesses.
UFC 249 will be the first of three cards at VyStar, with the others being on May 13 and May 16. The UFC will announce details on those other shows later. It announced that “these events will be closed to the public and will be produced with only essential personnel in attendance.” UFC 249 will be a pay-per-view card with the preliminaries airing on ESPN.
A bantamweight title fight between Henry “Triple C” Cejudo and former champion Dominick Cruz will serve as the co-main event. A hotly anticipated heavyweight fight between Francis Ngannou and Jairzinho Rozenstruik is also on the main card.
Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry pointed to the economic benefit of having the shows in his city, though without fans in attendance it will be significantly less than it would have been otherwise.
“As we move step-by-step on the path toward economic recovery, we are proud to host these UFC events at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena,” Curry said. “The UFC organization is a renowned entertainment brand that’s presented a safe and sensible plan to use this Jacksonville location, and we are thrilled to have our city highlighted nationally on ESPN and ESPN+. With Jacksonville continuing to outpace other cities and regions, we are excited to continue to lead as host to these world-class, international sports entertainment organizations.”
One of the issues the UFC faced when trying to do the show at Tachi Palace was regulation. The California State Athletic Commission refused to regulate it and it appeared that it would be regulated by the UFC itself.
But Florida will regulate this card.
“Florida’s State Commission and the Department of Business and Professional Regulation have been in continued coordination with the Ultimate Fighting Championship to identify options for bringing the UFC to Florida for upcoming events,” Florida State Boxing Commission executive director Patrick Cunningham said. “Florida welcomes the UFC to the Sunshine State, and our commission stands ready to sanction the events to be held on May 9, 13 and 16. Health and safety protocols will be in place to ensure the safety and well-being of all individuals who are helping to make these events possible. With this triple date feature of UFC events coming in May, Florida is continuing to build a strong collaboration with UFC that sets the foundation for more opportunities that we hope UFC will choose to host in our state in the months to come.”
Full UFC 249 card
Main card:
Tony Ferguson vs. Justin Gaethje, lightweights
Henry Cejudo vs. Dominick Cruz, bantamweights
Francis Ngannou vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik, heavyweights
Jeremy Stephens vs. Calvin Kattar, welterweights
Greg Hardy vs. Yorgan De Castro, heavyweights
Prelims:
Donald Cerrone vs. Anthony Pettis, welterweights
Fabricio Werdum vs. Alexei Oleinik, heavyweights
Ryan Spann vs. Sam Alvey, light heavyweights
Carla Esparza vs. Michelle Waterson, strawweights
Uriah Hall vs. Jacare Souza, middleweights
Early prelims:
Vicente Luque vs. Niko Price, welterweights
Bryce Mitchell vs. Charles Rosa, featherweights
Ryan Spann vs. Sam Alvey, light heavyweights
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