The global sports market has come to a complete standstill but UFC President Dana White has been adamant for the last month that his company will go ahead as per plan and run UFC249 which is scheduled to take place on April 19.
The main event for this card was expected to be the most anticipated fight in recent UFC history as UFC lightheavyweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov was expected to defend his belt against the former interim champion and number one contender Tony Ferguson.
White was adamant for this card to take place and the main event to go as per plan as the UFC has tried on four different occasions to get Nurmagomedov and Ferguson to fight. This was the fifth time that the UFC has scheduled this bout but sadly it is not going to take place.
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MMA fans believe that this fight is cursed and it looks like they may be right as this is the 5th time that the fight has fallen through. Nurmagomedov is currently in his hometown of Dagestan and Russia has banned all travel. There were rumours that President Putin who is a friend to Nurmagomedov had granted him special approval to fly out for UFC249. However, Nurmagomedov decided to stay at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
There is no doubt that Tony Ferguson will be disappointed he cannot fight Khabib but he still gets an opportunity to fight for the interim championship against Justin ‘The Highlight’ Gaethje. The winner is expected to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov later this year for the UFC lightheavyweight belt.
Dana White has not yet confirmed the location but rumours suggest that it could take place somewhere on the West Coast. White has put together a fantastic card that will be aired on ESPN.
This card is packed with some fantastic fights as the UFC has not scheduled any events for the last 4 weeks and has moved the best fights from the previous month on to this card to give MMA fans are packed card.
Some of the other exciting fights on the main card include Jessica Andrade vs. Rose Namajunas 2 for the co-main event; Jeremy Stephens vs. Calvin Kattar will fight at featherweight; Greg Hardy vs. Yorgan De Castro will fight at heavyweight and Vicente Luque vs. Niko Price.
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