UFC 249 fight card

UFC is ready to make its return from a near two-month break on Saturday night with its PPV offering of UF 249. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, UFC president Dana White has been adamant that his sport would be the first to return to action, and will do just that with 12 fights scheduled to go down in an empty arena in Jacksonville, Florida on Saturday night.

In the main event are a pair of the best lightweights in the world ready to take the next step toward becoming the full champion of the division as Tony Ferguson takes on Justin Gaethje from the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena for the interim 155-pound title. Ferguson previously held the interim strap before being stripped when he suffered a freak knee injury ahead of his unification bout with Khabib Nurmagomedov. Now, “El Cucuy” will be attempting to get booked for a sixth (!) fight with Nurmagomedov if he can get past Gaethje on Saturday night.

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In addition to Ferguson vs. Gaethje, a second title bout headlines the marquee as bantamweight champ Henry Cejudo takes on former titleholder Dominick Cruz in his first bout in over three years. Cejudo was originally scheduled to take on Jose Aldo in Brazil in his first action since undergoing shoulder surgery last year. But with many travel restrictions in place and UFC moving the event from Brazil to the U.S., the bout was canceled.

Sixteen of the 24 fighters on this card have appeared in main events at various UFC events in the past. That’s tied for fourth most on any fight card in UFC history, according to ESPN. A pair of them, Francis Ngannou and Jair Rozenstruik, will face off in the featured slot on PPV with the future of the heavyweight division on the line. The winner is likely the new No. 1 contender to face champion Stipe Miocic next.

The action all goes down on Saturday, May 9 and will air on ESPN+ pay-per-view for the price of $64.99 for subscribers. The card as it currently stands is as follows:

Tony Ferguson -190 vs. Justin Gaethje +160 — Interim lightweight title
Henry Cejudo (c) -220 vs. Dominick Cruz +180 — bantamweight title
Francis Ngannou -280 vs. Jair Rozenstruik +230 — Heavyweights
Calvin Kattar -240 vs. Jeremy Stephens +200 — Featherweights
Greg Hardy -195 vs. Yorgan De Castro +165 — Heavyweights
Anthony Pettis -150 vs. Donald Cerrone +125 — Welterweights
Vicente Luque -280 vs. Niko Price +230 — Welterweights
Fabricio Werdum -330 vs. Aleksei Oleinik +260 — Heavyweights
Ronaldo Souza -125 vs. Uriah Hall +105 — Middleweights
Carla Esparza -160 vs. Michelle Waterson +140 — Women’s strawweights
Bryce Mitchell -165 vs. Charles Rosa +155 — Featherweights
Ryan Spann -420 vs. Sam Alvey +330 — Light heavyweights

UFC 249 countdown

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