UFC Officially Resuming Fight Schedule
The UFC will be getting right back into the swing of things next month.
With plans to resume the fight schedule starting May 9, the promotion officially confirmed that UFC 249 would take place on that day with the event being held at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. It will air live on pay-per-view exclusively on ESPN+.
IT'S ON. #UFC249 pic.twitter.com/knd9KQc0SP
— UFC (@ufc) April 24, 2020
That’s not all — there will be two more cards taking place May 13 and May 16 which means fight fans will get to watch three events in the span of a week. All three events will take place in the same venue and will be closed to the public.
White, however, did not mention where the other two shows would be broadcast.
“I can’t wait to deliver some great fights for the fans,” Dana White said in a press release. “I want to give a big thanks to Mayor Curry, VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena and Florida State Boxing Commission Executive Director Patrick Cunningham for getting this thing done and giving us a venue to put on these incredible cards, as well our media partners including ESPN and ESPN+, for bringing it to fans. My team is ready to go and the fighters are excited to get back in there with these back-to-back events.”
Florida recently deemed professional sports and media production with a national audience as an essential service amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, allowing the UFC to resume its fight schedule.
The Florida State Boxing Commission has also announced that health and safety protocols will be in place to ensure the safety of everyone involved.
Per the UFC press release, future cards will be announced at a later date. As for Fight Island, that remains very much in White’s plans.
Per Dana White, Fight Island will be operational by June. Octagon on the beach. Hotels for fighters to stay at while they are there. Once things go back to normal, Fight Island will likely get retired, but it’s a real piece of the promotions plans.
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) April 24, 2020
Dana White (@danawhite) on Fight Island: We really are putting an Octagon on the beach. There’s going to be training facilities there for people. There are hotels, and all the infrastructure is going to be built for the UFC to have fights there.
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) April 24, 2020
UFC 249 will be headlined by an interim lightweight title fight between Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje. In the co-main event, Henry Cejudo defends his bantamweight title against Dominick Cruz.
Our #UFC249 co-main event! 🤩@DominickCruz returns to face the bantamweight king – @HenryCejudo! pic.twitter.com/sr0Bigkhj6
— UFC (@ufc) April 24, 2020
Below is the full UFC 249 card:
Main card
- Tony Ferguson vs. Justin Gaethje – interim lightweight title
- Henry Cejudo vs. Dominick Cruz – bantamweight title
- Francis Ngannou vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
- Jeremy Stephens vs. Calvin Kattar
- Greg Hardy vs. Yorgan De Castro
Prelims
- Donald Cerrone vs. Anthony Pettis
- Fabricio Werdum vs. Alexei Oleinik
- Ryan Spann vs. Sam Alvey
- Carla Esparza vs. Michelle Waterson
- Uriah Hall vs. Jacare Souza
Early prelims
- Vicente Luque vs. Niko Price
- Bryce Mitchell vs. Charles Rosa
- Ryan Spann vs. Sam Alvey
