As the world remains in flux about when life will return to normal, UFC is planning to trudge forward and continue hosting events from undisclosed locations. After kicking off the year with such promise as Conor McGregor returned victorious in January, Jon Jones was pushed to his limits in retaining his title in February and Weili Zhang and Joanna Jedrzejczyk put on an all-time classic in March, the sport has stood still for nearly a month amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Despite UFC president Dana White’s best efforts, UFC is once again hold after his plan for UFC to return with UFC 249 on April 18 were squashed by network executives at Disney and ESPN. White planned to roll on with a 12-fight card headlined by an interim lightweight title fight between Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje at the Tachi Palace in California, but was told to “stand down” by the higher ups.
White says he still plans to host some events at an undisclosed island in the coming months and that preparations are underway to make it happen.
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Below is an updating schedule of events and main event bouts for 2020 that will be updated as UFC makes any announcements about its future plans to host events.
UFC 2020 schedule
Event | Main event | Location | Date | TV |
---|---|---|---|---|
UFC Fight Night Portland | Alistair Overeem vs. Walt Harris (Canceled) | Portland, Oregon | April 11 | ESPN |
UFC 249 | Tony Ferguson vs. Justin Gaethje (Canceled) | TBD | April 18 | PPV |
UFC Fight Night Lincoln | Anthony Smith vs. Glover Teixeira | TBD | April 25 | ESPN+ |
UFC Fight Night OKC | Jack Hermansson vs. Chris Weidman | TBD | May 2 | ESPN+ |
UFC 250 | Henry Cejudo (c) vs. Jose Aldo | TBD | May 9 | PPV |
UFC 251 | TBD | TBD | June 6 | PPV |