UFC 249
UFC 249: Ferguson vs. Gaethje is a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship originally planned to take place on April 18, 2020 at Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino in Lemoore, California.[1] Due to the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic, the event was eventually postponed (see section below)
Background
A UFC Lightweight Championship bout between the current champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and former interim champion Tony Ferguson (also The Ultimate Fighter: Team Lesnar vs. Team dos Santos welterweight winner) was slated to headline this event.[1] The pairing had previously been scheduled and cancelled for various reasons on four separate occasions (The Ultimate Fighter: Team McGregor vs. Team Faber Finale, UFC on Fox: Teixeira vs. Evans, UFC 209 and UFC 223) over the last four years.[3][4][5][6] The bout was cancelled for a fifth time due to issues related to the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic (see section below).
A featherweight bout between Jeremy Stephens and Calvin Kattar was expected to take place at UFC 248.[7] However, Stephens was removed from the card in mid-January with an injury.[8] The pairing was rescheduled for this event.[9]
A heavyweight bout between Shamil Abdurakhimov and Ciryl Gane was scheduled for the event. However, it was announced on March 5 that Gane was forced to pull out of the event after he was struck by a pneumothorax in training and the bout was eventually scrapped.[10]
A welterweight bout between former Bellator Welterweight Champion Lyman Good and Belal Muhammad was scheduled for this event.[11] The pairing was previously expected to meet at UFC 205 in November 2016, but Good was pulled from that event after being notified by USADA due to a potential anti-doping violation stemming from an out-of-competition drug test.[12] However, Good pulled out due to injury on April 4 and the bout was scrapped.[13]
A women's strawweight bout between former UFC Women's Strawweight Champions Jéssica Andrade and Rose Namajunas was expected to co-headline the event.[14] The pairing met previously at UFC 237 in May 2019, when Andrade won via second round TKO to capture the title.[15] However, Namajunas pulled out on April 8 due to personal reasons, with her manager citing a pair of deaths in the family related to the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic as the reason.[16][17]
COVID-19 pandemic
On March 12, New York governor Andrew Cuomo issued an order restricting mass gatherings and sporting events due to the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic.[18] On March 16, UFC president Dana White announced via a letter to employees shared to the public that this event "is still scheduled as planned, but the location may change".[19] On March 18, the New York State Athletic Commission announced that the event would not be sanctioned to take place at the event's original site, the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.[20] On March 23, White revealed that he already had a new location for this event, but would only confirm that it will be held behind closed doors.[21] He added two days later that the card could feature a different lineup depending on the logistics.[22]
Khabib Nurmagomedov stated on March 30 that he was in Dagestan and his participation at the event could be jeopardized by travel bans related to the pandemic.[23] He stated on April 1 that he would probably not be competing at the event due to those restrictions and reinforced that people should be in quarantine nowadays.[24][25] He later confirmed that he would compete if a location was given and they were able to move him there, but did not see it happening.[26]
The UFC announced on April 6 that Nurmagomedov would be replaced by former WSOF Lightweight Champion Justin Gaethje, with an interim title to be disputed between him and Tony Ferguson.[27] The rest of the card also suffered a few changes, with the following fights being added as well:[28]
A heavyweight bout between former UFC Heavyweight Championship challenger Francis Ngannou and Jairzinho Rozenstruik. The bout was originally scheduled to headline UFC on ESPN: Ngannou vs. Rozenstruik on March 28, but the event was cancelled due to the pandemic.[29]
A heavyweight bout between Greg Hardy and Yorgan de Castro; the bout was originally scheduled for UFC on ESPN: Ngannou vs. Rozenstruik.
A welterweight bout between Vicente Luque and Niko Price; both fighters were expected to face different opponents at UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Harris.
Islam Makhachev was expected to face Alexander Hernandez in a lightweight bout, but was removed from the event due to travel restrictions and replaced by Omar Antonio Morales Ferrer.
A bantamweight bout between Marlon Vera and former UFC Flyweight Championship challenger Ray Borg; Vera was expected to compete against a different opponent at UFC
Ottman Azaitar was expected to face Khama Worthy in a lightweight bout, but was removed from the event due to travel restrictions and replaced by Michael Johnson.
A light heavyweight bout between Ryan Spann and Sam Alvey; Alvey was expected to compete against a different opponent at UFC on ESPN: Ngannou vs. Rozenstruik.
The following fights were removed from the event and are expected to be rescheduled for future cards:[28]
A light heavyweight bout between Magomed Ankalaev and Ion Cuțelaba (a rematch from their meeting at UFC Fight Night: Benavidez vs. Figueiredo).[31]
A heavyweight bout between Ben Rothwell and Gian Villante.
A middleweight bout between Karl Roberson and Makhmud Muradov.
A bantamweight bout between Hunter Azure and Umar Nurmagomedov.
A location for the event was not revealed, but Dana White said the UFC's temporary home would host U.S.-based fighters who aren't barred from traveling domestically.[32] It was later revealed that the event was expected to take place at Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino in Lemoore, California, the site of several events for the defunct World Extreme Cagefighting and Tachi Palace Fights promotions.[33]
On April 9, White announced that this event would not take place as scheduled after top-level executives at both Disney and ESPN intervened, while saying that all future events are currently postponed.[34][35] It was later revealed that the 40th Governor of California, Gavin Newsom, influenced the decision of canceling the event
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