UFC Looking To Return To Action In May With A Stacked Card
It was only a few days ago that the UFC was told to halt all events, starting with UFC 249. The battle was over in the wake of the coronavirus. UFC President Dana White, however, is not known to concede so easily. Now, it appears the company is back on track.
According to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, the UFC is looking to continue plans to hold an event on May 9, in a location to be determined. The following bouts are also being discussed for the event:
- Tony Ferguson v. Justin Gaethje – Interim UFC Lightweight Title
- Henry Cejudo (c) v. Dominick Cruz – UFC Bantamweight Title
- Amanda Nunes (c) v. Felicia Spencer – UFC Featherweight Title
- Francis Ngannou v. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
- Calvin Kattar v. Jeremy Stephens
- Donald Cerrone v. Anthony Pettis
- Greg Hardy v. Yorgan De Castro
- Aleksei Oleinik v. Fabricio Werdum
- Carla Esparza v. Michelle Waterson
- Ronaldo Souza v. Uriah Hall
- Niko Price v. Vicente Luque
- Bryce Mitchell v. Charles Rosa
The original date was meant for UFC 250 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Henry Cejudo was set to face Jose Aldo for the UFC Bantamweight Championship. Earlier reports had Aldo and a number of Brazilian fighters out fo the events, with Cruz as a potential replacement. This would be his first fight since 2016.
Dana was set on continuing with events, especially with UFC 249 being one of the biggest cards of the year. The event would have been inside Tachi Palace, a Native American casino in Lemoore, California. The land was not subjected to rulings by the California Athletic Commission, which barred combat sports a while back. The event, among others, was postponed following California Governor Gavin Newsom directly calling Disney officials to halt all operations.
Following the announcement, Dana ended up stating that “Fight Island” would become a reality. He also stated that they will be the first ones back when all is said and done.
“We will be the first sport back,” White went on to say. “‘Fight Island’ is real, it is a real thing. The infrastructure is being built right now and that’s really going to happen. It will be on ESPN.”
A location for this May event could be in Florida. It appears to be the most obvious choice after it deemed WWE an “essential business”, as well as other major sports. The company would need to get accepted by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
Fighters are starting to accept bouts, but the UFC has not commented on the situation at the time. Stay tuned as more information is set to be revealed.