UFC president Dana White had hoped to hold a pay-per-view event this weekend, but after requests from Disney and ESPN it was determined that UFC 249 would be delayed. Now, the UFC boss is eyeing a return in a matter of weeks.
According to White, the UFC is eyeing a return on May 9 with a stacked fight card that would feature three title fights.
The event would be headlined by the planned interim lightweight championship bout between Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje, while bantamweight titleholder Henry Cejudo faces former champion Dominick Cruz and Amanda Nunes puts the women’s featherweight title on the line against Felicia Spencer.
Other planned bouts include Francis Ngannou vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Donald Cerrone vs. Anthony Pettis, Calvin Kattar vs. Jeremy Stephens, Uriah Hall vs. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, Carla Esparza vs. Michelle Waterson, Greg Hardy vs. Yorgan De Castro, and more.
In addition, Dana White said the UFC would hold a series of events at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas before completing the planned “Fight Island” for international fighters unable to get into the United States because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“We’re going to run through the American fighters pretty quickly, so we have to get that up and ready to roll,” White told Yahoo! Sports’ Kevin Iole.
A full look at the planned fight card for the planned event can be seen below.
- Tony Ferguson vs. Justin Gaethje – for interim lightweight title
- Champ Henry Cejudo vs. Dominick Cruz – for bantamweight title
- Champ Amanda Nunes vs. Felicia Spencer – for women’s featherweight title
- Francis Ngannou vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
- Calvin Kattar vs. Jeremy Stephens
- Donald Cerrone vs. Anthony Pettis
- Yorgan De Castro vs. Greg Hardy
- Aleksei Oleinik vs. Fabricio Werdum
- Carla Esparza vs. Michelle Waterson
- Uriah Hall vs. Ronaldo Souza
- Vicente Luque vs. Niko Price
- Bryce Mitchell vs. Charles Rosa