UFC 249

UFC 249: Ferguson vs. Gaethje was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on May 9, 2020 at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. It was originally planned to take place on April 18 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, United States. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was eventually postponed (see section below). On April 21, the UFC confirmed that UFC 249 would be moved to May 9 and take place in Florida.

Background

A UFC Lightweight Championship bout between the champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and interim champion Tony Ferguson (also The Ultimate Fighter: Team Lesnar vs. Team dos Santos welterweight winner) was slated to headline this event. The pairing had previously been scheduled and cancelled for various reasons on four occasions (The Ultimate Fighter: Team McGregor vs. Team Faber Finale, UFC on Fox: Teixeira vs. Evans, UFC 209 and UFC 223) over the last four years. The bout was cancelled for a fifth time due to issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic (see section below).

A featherweight bout between Jeremy Stephens and Calvin Kattar was expected to take place at UFC 248. However, Stephens was removed from the card in mid-January with an injury. The pairing was rescheduled for this event.

A heavyweight bout between Shamil Abdurakhimov and Ciryl Gane was scheduled for the event. However, it was announced on March 5 that Gane was forced to pull out of the event after he was struck by a pneumothorax in training and the bout was eventually scrapped.

A welterweight bout between former Bellator Welterweight Champion Lyman Good and Belal Muhammad was scheduled for this event. The pairing was previously expected to meet at UFC 205 in November 2016, but Good was pulled from that event after being notified by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) due to a potential anti-doping violation stemming from an out-of-competition drug test. However, Good pulled out due to injury on April 4 and the bout was scrapped. It was announced on April 20 that Good actually tested positive for COVID-19, being the first fighter to publicly acknowledge the fact.

A women's strawweight rematch between former UFC Women's Strawweight Champions Jéssica Andrade and Rose Namajunas was expected to co-headline the event. The pairing previously met at UFC 237 in May 2019, where Andrade won via second round TKO to capture the title. However, Namajunas pulled out on April 8 for personal reasons, with her manager citing a pair of deaths in the family related to the COVID-19 pandemic as the reason.

COVID-19 pandemic – the April 18 date is postponed

On March 12, New York governor Andrew Cuomo issued an order restricting mass gatherings and sporting events due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Four days later, UFC president Dana White announced via a letter to employees shared to the public that this event "is still scheduled as planned, but the location may change". On March 18, the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) announced that the event would not be sanctioned to take place at the event's original site, the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. On March 23, White revealed that he already had a new location for this event, but would only confirm that it will be held behind closed doors. White subsequently added on March 25 that the card could feature a different lineup, depending on the logistics.

Khabib Nurmagomedov stated on March 30 that he was in Dagestan and his participation at the event could be jeopardized due to travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. He stated on April 1 that he would probably not be competing at the event and reinforced that people should be in quarantine anyhow. He later confirmed that he would compete if a location was given and they were able to move him there, but did not see it happening.

The UFC announced on April 6 that Nurmagomedov would be replaced by former WSOF Lightweight Champion Justin Gaethje, with an interim title to be disputed between him and Tony Ferguson. The rest of the card also underwent changes, with the following fights being added as well:

• A heavyweight bout between former UFC Heavyweight Championship challenger Francis Ngannou and Jairzinho Rozenstruik. The bout was originally scheduled to headline UFC on ESPN: Ngannou vs. Rozenstruik on March 28, but the event was cancelled due to the pandemic.
• A heavyweight bout between Greg Hardy and Yorgan De Castro; the bout was originally scheduled for UFC on ESPN: Ngannou vs. Rozenstruik.
• A welterweight rematch between Vicente Luque and Niko Price; both fighters were expected to face different opponents at UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Harris. They first met at UFC Fight Night: Brunson vs. Machida in October 2017, where Luque won via second round submission.
• Islam Makhachev was expected to face Alexander Hernandez in a lightweight bout, but was removed from the event due to travel restrictions and replaced by Omar Morales.
• A bantamweight bout between Marlon Vera and former UFC Flyweight Championship challenger Ray Borg; Vera was expected to compete against a different opponent at UFC on ESPN: Ngannou vs. Rozenstruik.
• Ottman Azaitar was expected to face Khama Worthy in a lightweight bout, but was removed from the event due to travel restrictions and replaced by Michael Johnson.
• A light heavyweight bout between Ryan Spann and Sam Alvey; Alvey was expected to compete against a different opponent at UFC on ESPN: Ngannou vs. Rozenstruik.

A light heavyweight bout between Magomed Ankalaev and Ion Cuțelaba (a rematch from their meeting at UFC Fight Night: Benavidez vs. Figueiredo) was removed. The fight was rescheduled and took place at UFC 254.

The following fights were removed from the event and were never rescheduled for future cards:

• A heavyweight bout between Ben Rothwell and Gian Villante.
• A middleweight bout between Karl Roberson and Makhmud Muradov.
• A bantamweight bout between Hunter Azure and Umar Nurmagomedov.

A location for the event was not revealed, but Dana White said the UFC's temporary home would host U.S.-based fighters who aren't barred from traveling domestically. On April 7, Secretary of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation Halsey Beshears made a post on Twitter, offering to help sanction and host UFC events in the state. It was later revealed that the event was expected to take place at Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino in Lemoore, California, the site of several events for the defunct World Extreme Cagefighting and Tachi Palace Fights promotions.

On April 9, White announced that this event would not take place as scheduled and all other UFC events would be suspended until further notice, citing interventions from high-ranking staff of the UFC's U.S. media rightsholders, ESPN Inc. and parent The Walt Disney Company. It was later revealed that the 40th governor of California, Gavin Newsom, influenced the decision of cancelling the event.

May 9 – a new date is set for the event

The promotion originally planned UFC 250 to take place at Ginásio do Ibirapuera in São Paulo, Brazil on May 9. On April 7, it was announced that the venue would be used as a field hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil and would not be able to host the fight card.

A UFC Bantamweight Championship bout between the current champion Henry Cejudo (also former UFC Flyweight Champion and 2008 Olympic gold medalist in freestyle wrestling) and former WEC and two-time UFC Featherweight Champion José Aldo was expected to serve as that event's headliner. However, Aldo withdrew on April 8 due to visa issues as the event was expected to be moved to the United States. While not officially announced by the promotion at the time, former two-time bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz (who hadn't fought since December 2016) was expected to replace him.

A UFC Women's Featherweight Championship bout between the current champion Amanda Nunes (also the current UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion) and former Invicta FC Featherweight Champion Felicia Spencer was expected to serve as the co-headliner. Nunes announced on April 20 that she would not compete on this date due to her desire to have a full training camp.

Due to the event being expected to be relocated to the United States, several changes were made due to fighters being unable to compete due to visa issues: