More bad news for fight fans as UFC President Dana White has officially announced the cancellation of UFC 249 which was set to take place on April 18.
UFC 249 was originally slated to take place in Brooklyn and feature a highly anticipated lightweight title fight between Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov.
However, due to the Covid-19 outbreak, the promotion was forced to move the event to California. In addition, ‘The Eagle’ was ruled out of the main event due to travel restrictions that had him grounded in Russia.
The UFC quickly found a replacement for Khabib Nurmagomedov in the form of surging lightweight contender Justin Gaethje.
‘The Highlight’ accepted a short notice bout with Tony Ferguson for UFC 249, with the winner to be awarded the promotions interim lightweight title.
However, that plan is no more. After Rose Namajunas pulled out of the UFC 249 co-main event yesterday afternoon, the UFC has now decided to cancel the event entirely, this while postponing all future events.
The news comes from ESPN‘s Brett Okamoto, who spoke with Dana White:
BREAKING: UFC 249 has been canceled. All UFC events postponed indefinitely, due to COVID-19. Dana White says he was ready to promote the event but things were taken out of his control. Much, much more on this to come.
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) April 9, 2020
“BREAKING: UFC 249 has been canceled. All UFC events postponed indefinitely, due to COVID-19. Dana White says he was ready to promote the event but things were taken out of his control. Much, much more on this to come.”
Dana White had done everything in his power to keep UFC 249 intact for April 18, but ultimately his efforts proved useless against the Covid-19 pandemic.
The promotion has yet to announce a new date for UFC 249 or any of its future events for that matter.
One would assume that the UFC will now look to rebook the highly anticipated lightweight fight between Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov for a later date.
What do you think of the new that UFC 249 has been officially cancelled? Share your thoughts in the comments section PENN Nation!
This article first appeared on BJPENN.com April 9, 2020