Saturday should have been [autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag]’s big night. The heavyweight contender was supposed to step into the octagon against Jairzinho Rozenstruik for the UFC on ESPN 8 main event for a fight that, had he won, would’ve likely set up a title shot.
Instead, Ngannou is trapped inside his home like the majority of the rest of the world as the coronavirus pandemic continues to unfold. The situation caused the UFC to postpone three events, one of which was supposed to go down Saturday night at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, with Ngannou (14-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) vs. Rozenstruik (10-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) sitting atop the bill.
It’s clearly a challenge for Ngannou to not think about where he would be under regular circumstances. Naturally, it’s frustrating for him, as he expressed on social media (via Twitter):
I should be fighting today 3/28 in Columbus after 9 months off 😴 #fuckingcoronavirus
— Francis Ngannou (@francis_ngannou) March 28, 2020
I should be fighting today 3/28 in Columbus after 9 months off 😴 #f*ckingcoronavirus
All of Ngannou’s training camp effort may not be for nought, though. The UFC still intends to put on UFC 249 on April 18, however, a location and venue have not been made official. UFC president Dana White recently said the Ngannou vs. Rozenstruik fight could be shifted onto UFC 249, and apparently Ngannou is preparing for that potential opportunity to arise in three weeks (via Instagram):
@danawhite we are just waiting on location 📍 #ufc249
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