Dana White Wants To Build The Baddest UFC 249 Card
While the coronavirus has caused the UFC to postpone a total of three cards, one event that will move on is UFC 249.
It’s possible that the UFC 249 card may not move on “as is” though because UFC President Dana White wants to build the baddest UFC 249 card possible.
“We’re trying to build the baddest card that’s ever been done in the history of the sport,” White said to Brett Okamoto of ESPN. “Some of the things are going to work out and some of the things might not work out. We’re trying to figure out if [some things] don’t work out, what we do.”
The current card for UFC 249, barring any changes, features:
UFC Lightweight Championship
Khabib Nurmagomedov (c) (28-0) vs. Tony Ferguson (25-3)
Uriah Hall (15-9) vs. Ronaldo Souza (26-8, 1NC)
Jessica Andrade (20-7) vs. Rose Namajunas (8-4)
Ben Rothwell (37-12) vs. Gian Villante (17-11)
Jeremy Stephens (28-17, 1NC) vs. Calvin Kattar (20-4)
Shamil Abdurakhimov (20-5) vs. TBA
Sijara Eubanks (4-4) vs. Sarah Moras (6-5)
Khama Worthy (15-6) vs. Ottman Azaitar (12-0)
Belal Muhammad (16-3) vs. Lyman Good (21-5, 1NC)
Makhmud Muradov (24-6) vs. Karl Roberson (9-2)
Umar Nurmagomedov (12-0) vs. Hunter Azure (8-0)
Islam Makhachev (18-1) vs. Alexander Hernandez (11-2)
Ion Cutelaba (15-5, 1NC) vs. Magomed Ankalaev (13-1)
There is talk of a heavyweight division attraction between Francis Ngannou and Jairzinho Rozenstruik being added to the card, but that hasn’t been confirmed at this time. There could also be other bouts from the three UFC cards postponed by the coronavirus on UFC 249, but that also hasn’t been confirmed at this time.
UFC 249 takes place on Saturday, April 18 from a location to be announced with Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast.