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Marc Raimondi
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Brett Okamoto
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ESPN Staff Writer- MMA columnist for ESPN.com
- Analyst for “MMA Live”
- Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun
UFC president Dana White has made good on his promise to be the first sport back in action in the United States, as UFC 249 is officially upon us at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena on Saturday night in Jacksonville, Florida.
UFC 249 was originally supposed to take place on April 18 in Brooklyn, New York, but those plans were scrapped long ago due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Over the past several weeks, the pay-per-view event has been moved, postponed, reconfigured and everything else in between. But finally, here we are. Eleven fights in an empty arena.
Tony Ferguson will attempt to extend his 12-fight win streak at lightweight in an interim title bout against one of the most entertaining men in the sport, Justin Gaethje. The winner is in line for a shot at champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Henry Cejudo will seek his first 135-pound title defense against one of the best of all time, Dominick Cruz. Will ring impact Cruz, who hasn’t fought since losing to Cody Garbrandt on Dec. 30, 2016?
Two hard-hitting heavyweights, Francis Ngannou and Jairzinho Rozenstruik, will battle with the hope of a future title shot.
The card features other well-known names such as Cowboy Cerrone, Anthony Pettis, Michelle Waterson, Carla Esparza and more.
The prelims start at 7 p.m. ET with the main card at 10 p.m.
Fight in progress
Light heavyweight: Ryan Spann (17-5, -450) vs. Sam Alvey (33-13, +325)
Still to come
Main card, 10 p.m.
Interim lightweight championship: Tony Ferguson (26-3, -195) vs. Justin Gaethje (21-2, +165)
Bantamweight championship: Henry Cejudo (c) (15-2, -240) vs. Dominick Cruz (22-2, +190)
Heavyweight: Francis Ngannou (14-3, -280) vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik (10-0,+230)
Featherweight: Jeremy Stephens (28-17, +210) vs. Calvin Kattar (20-4, -260)
Heavyweight: Greg Hardy (5-2, -210) vs. Yorgan De Castro (6-0, +175)
Prelims, 8 p.m.
Welterweight: Donald Cerrone (36-14, +110) vs. Anthony Pettis (22-10, -140)
Heavyweight: Aleksei Oleinik (58-13-1, +250) vs. Fabricio Werdum (23-8-1, -320)
Strawweight: Carla Esparza (16-6, -165) vs. Michelle Waterson (17-7, +125)
Welterweight: Vicente Luque (17-7-1, -280) vs. Niko Price (14-3, +230)
Early prelims
Featherweight: Charles Rosa (12-3, +135) vs. Bryce Mitchell (12-1, -165)