On Monday, the UFC officially announced a new card for UFC 249, which includes a headlining bout between Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje for the interim UFC lightweight championship. The event’s new lineup keeps intact its originally scheduled co-headliner, a strawweight rematch between ex-champs Jessica Andrade and Rose Namajunas.
In total, 12 bouts are confirmed for the fight card, which has yet to have an official location announced. A total of 12 fighters previously scheduled to fight on April 18 have lost their spots, though multiple sources have confirmed the promotion intends to rebook several of them on future fight cards at the same host venue for the April 28 event.
White has insisted for weeks that despite growing concerns around the coronavirus pandemic that’s led to the banning of mass public gatherings, travel restrictions, and widespread safety precautions across the globe, the UFC expected to move forward with the UFC 249 card.
The pay-per-view event, which White has said will be priced the same as other PPVs, was originally scheduled to take place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., and was headlined by a lightweight title bout between champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and Ferguson. That location was removed from the equation when New York joined other states in locking down large venues as a response to the spread of COVID-19, and the main event would later fall through after Nurmagomedov returned to Russia, essentially ruling him out of the bout unless it took place in his home country.
See the full UFC 249 lineup below:
Tony Ferguson vs. Justin Gaethje — interim UFC lightweight title fight
Jessica Andrade vs. Rose Namajunas
Vicente Luque vs. Niko Price
Jeremy Stephens vs. Calvin Kattar
Francis Ngannou vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
Uriah Hall vs. Ronaldo Souza
Greg Hardy vs. Yorgan De Castro
Alexander Hernandez vs. Omar Morales
Marlon Vera vs. Ray Borg
Khama Worthy vs. Michael Johnson
Sijara Eubanks vs. Sarah Moras
Ryan Spann vs. Sam Alvey
{feed:enclosure_href }
More...
