UFC 249 Video: Watch Tony Ferguson Vs. Justin Gaethje Countdown

It’s been a long and arduous road, but the UFC has a date, a location and an arena for UFC 249. The fight card takes place on Saturday, May 9 at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. In the main event, former interim UFC lightweight champion Tony Ferguson faces ex-World Series of Fighting 155-pound kingpin Justin Gaethje. 

The UFC had been looking for a new home for UFC 249 since mid-March when the New York State Athletic Commission informed the promotion it could not hold the event at Barclays Center in Brooklyn in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. In early April, the UFC thought it had secured a location for the event in California, but that fell through after Disney and ESPN asked UFC president Dana White to “stand down.”

“Today, we got a call from the highest level you can go at Disney, and the highest level at ESPN … and the powers that be there asked me to stand down and not do this event on Saturday,” White told ESPN. 

Florida became an option when the Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office announced, “professional sports and media production with a national audience” were essential services during the coronavirus pandemic.

UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov was initially booked against Ferguson, but he was forced out of the contest due to travel regulations. Nurmagomedov’s withdrawal from the event marks the fifth time he and Ferguson have failed to make it to the octagon for a scheduled bout.

Gaethje was announced as a replacement on April 6.

Ferguson is currently on a 12-fight winning streak with the UFC. He is tied for the longest active winning streak in the UFC with Nurmagomedov. Ferguson last fought in June 2019 when he earned a doctor stoppage TKO victory over Donald Cerrone at the end of the second round.

Gaethje is currently on a three-fight winning streak. He has first-round victories in each of those outings. His most recent fight came in September 2019 when he stopped Cerrone at the 4:18 mark of the first stanza.

Watch the UFC Countdown video for the main event matchup below. 

UFC 249 takes place at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. The main card streams on ESPN+ pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.