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Dana White seems hellbent on putting on UFC 249, despite just about every global circumstance telling him to stop. Yet, onward he goes.
It has been a saga for White to try and put on the event, which is still scheduled to go on the night of April 18. When original main event fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov pulled out of the fight, flying home to Russia, they reportedly worked up a new headline fight between Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje.
But that deal isn’t inked yet. And, more importantly, there is no place to have the fight. The original location — Barclays Center in New York — called the event off. So now they’re scrambling to find somewhere, anywhere, to put on the thing.
For unspeakably selfish reasons, I would love for Dana White to put on UFC 249. I edit a sports website and, in case you hadn’t noticed, there aren’t a whole lot of sports on. I can’t get too excited about Belarusian soccer, the one top flight pro soccer league still going on, and WrestleMania is over. So this is it.
And even I, selfish man that I am, fully understand how preposterous this is. We’re 12 days away from what is scheduled to be the start of UFC 249. Less than two weeks. Dana White currently does not have:
- A confirmed headline match
- A location
And yet still White plows ahead. He said he’s going to tweet the entire card today, but it’s unclear if that’s a signed-and-done card or if it’s just a plan. A hope. Ferguson has already said he won’t sign on to fight unless he knows the location, and as of Monday morning, there wasn’t a location.
I understand that White got to where he is in life because he isn’t the type of guy to take no for an answer. But at a certain point, this is madness. Notice I haven’t even talked yet about the irresponsibility of bringing together the people necessary to put on this show during a global pandemic, and how they’d all be putting themselves at risk for getting coronavirus.
That should be the only concern here. But, no. White wants his event. There’s money on the line and lots of eyeballs waiting to watch sports. And despite not having a location or a headline fight inked, and despite the gross recklessness of putting on a fight during a global pandemic, White is going to lower his head and keep charging.
Monday’s Big Winner: Mortal Kombat TikTok Person
We’ve got the best meme out of quarantine so far, in my humble opinion. I’m robe fighter.
Quick hits: WrestleMania, WrestleMania, WrestleMania
– Gronk won the WWE 24/7 title belt and if you had to ask me if that meant more to him than the Lombardi Trophy, I couldn’t answer you with any confidence.
– The Firefly Fun House match at WrestleMania was like if David Lynch directed a WWE event and it was … awesome?
– People still aren’t over the “Boneyard match” from night one of WrestleMania.
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