Less than a week after UFC 249 was cancelled, UFC President Dana White has set a new date for his promotion’s return to hosting regular fights.
According to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, White has promised that the UFC “will be the first major sports organisation to return to a normal schedule.” The promotion is targeting 9 May for the UFC’s next event.
As yet, no location has been announced for these fights.
UFC 249 was set to be held this weekend but was cancelled after ESPN and Disney asked White to postpone his plans amid the ongoing COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
In terms of the date, 9 May was scheduled to be the date for UFC 250, another event postponed for the foreseeable future.
Due to the fallout of all these fight cards, White is attempting to build one of the biggest and best fight cards we’ve seen for a while according to Okamoto.
Here is the *targeted* card for May 9. Very fluid. Some have verbally agreed, others are hesitant and want more details. Fighters want to fight but these are crazy circumstances, obviously. But … this is the card as of today, UFC is working on. pic.twitter.com/7s7OfwXOW9
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) April 15, 2020
If all goes to plan, the full fight card will reportedly host three title fights as well as a whole host of other top bouts.
Of course, all bouts on this fight card are subject to change – especially in this day and age. ESPN make a point of saying that a lot of the bouts so far are only verbally agreed to.
Here is the full fight card for what is assumed to be UFC 249 below:
Projected 9 May/UFC 249 fight card:
Interim lightweight championship: Tony Ferguson vs. Justin Gaethje
Bantamweight championship: Henry Cejudo (c) vs. Dominick Cruz
Women’s Featherweight championship: Amanda Nunes (c) vs. Felicia Spencer
Heavyweight: Francis Ngannou vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
Featherweight: Jeremy Stephens vs. Calvin Kattar
Welterweight: Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone vs. Anthony Pettis
Heavyweight: Greg Hardy vs. Yorgan de Castro
Heavyweight: Aleksei Oleinik vs. Fabricio Werdum
Women’s Strawweight: Carla Esparza vs. Michelle Waterson
Middleweight: Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza vs. Uriah Hall
Welterweight: Vicente Luque vs. Niko Price
Featherweight: Charles Rosa vs. Bryce Mitchell