The UFC may be back sooner than anticipated.
When UFC president Dana White canceled UFC 249, he also postponed all subsequent events indefinitely due to restrictions caused by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, as well as a request to stand down by the UFC’s broadcast partners at ESPN and Disney. However, the promotion is now eying a May 9 return, with an event at a location to be determined.
Tuesday, MMA Junkie confirmed the UFC’s considered plans with a person with knowledge of the situation. The person asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. MMA Fighting was the first to report the plans.
Dana White later informed ESPN the promotion is looking to rebook various big fights that were delayed by the schedule change, including [autotag]Tony Ferguson[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Justin Gaethje[/autotag] (originally set to headline UFC 249), [autotag]Henry Cejudo[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Dominick Cruz[/autotag] (originally in the works to headline UFC 250), [autotag]Amanda Nunes[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Felicia Spencer[/autotag] (originally set to co-headline UFC 250), and [autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Jairzinho Rozenstruik[/autotag] (originally set to headline UFC on ESPN 8).
Upon announcing the cancellation and postponements, White promised the UFC would be the first sporting organization to return to normalcy – whether it be on a mysterious “Fight Island” he said the company is currently constructing, or elsewhere.
“We will be the first sport back,” White said. “‘Fight Island’ is real. It’s a real thing. The infrastructure is being built right now, and that’s really going to happen. It will be on ESPN.”
If the event isn’t scheduled for “Fight Island,” the state of Florida could be another potential location for the UFC to hold the May 9 card. In a press release issued Monday, Florida governor Ron DeSantis revealed some sporting events, including WWE, will be deemed essential businesses.
It’s unknown if Tachi Palace Casino in Lemore, Calif. could be in the cards, as well. The Indian reservation casino was targeted to be the new home of UFC 249 on April 18, prior to ESPN and Disney executives asking the UFC to cancel the event entirely.
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Prior to the announcement of postponements, the UFC had 11 events publicly on tap: UFC 249 (April 18 in Lemore, Calif.), UFC on ESPN+ 31 (April 25 in Lemore, Calif.), UFC on ESPN+ 32 (May 2 in Lemore, Calif.), UFC 250 (May 9 at Location TBD), UFC on ESPN+ 33 (May 16 in San Diego), UFC 251 (June 6 in Perth, Australia), UFC Kazakhstan (June 13 in Nur-Sultan, Kazakstan), UFC Saskatoon (June 20 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada), UFC Austin (June 27 in Austin, Texas), UFC 252 (July 11 in Las Vegas), and UFC Dublin (Aug. 15 in Dublin, Ireland).
The status of all above events are currently unknown.
According to ESPN, the proposed May 9 event includes the following lineup:
- 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
- [autotag]Calvin Kattar[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Jeremy Stephens[/autotag]
- [autotag]Donald Cerrone[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Anthony Pettis[/autotag]
- [autotag]Yorgan De Castro[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Greg Hardy[/autotag]
- [autotag]Aleksei Oleinik[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Fabricio Werdum[/autotag]
- [autotag]Carla Esparza[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Michelle Waterson[/autotag]
- [autotag]Uriah Hall[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Ronaldo Souza[/autotag]
- [autotag]Vicente Luque[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Niko Price[/autotag]
- [autotag]Bryce Mitchell[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Charles Rosa[/autotag]
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