Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
“Every day that I work on this thing, I get another curve ball thrown at me. Every time we plan something, it falls apart — I have to re-do it, re-do it.”
Earlier this week, UFC president Dana White confirmed that UFC 249: Khabib vs. Ferguson would take place behind closed doors in an undisclosed venue on April 18, but that venue may have already been scrapped.
Speaking to boxing legend Mike Tyson in a recent interview, White vented his frustrations about the government-imposed lockdown that has forced the UFC to change venues for UFC 249 but reaffirmed his desire to go ahead with the event.
“I’m gonna try and pull off Tony vs. Khabib on April 18 and try to get some normalcy back in this country,” White said, per MMA Fighting. “Every day that I work on this thing, I get another curve ball thrown at me. Every time we plan something, it falls apart — I have to re-do it, re-do it.”
While White didn’t reveal a new venue for the event, the longtime fight promoter said the UFC currently has ‘four or five’ locations in mind.
“I have four or five locations right now and we’re getting this deal done. And then we’re going to figure out who we can get in, who we can’t, what we can do and we’re going to build a card around it.”
UFC 249 was originally expected to take place in New York but the NYSAC pulled the plug on the event after the government imposed a statewide lockdown in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Bloody Elbow will keep you updated as this story develops.