Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC
Live, blow-by-blow updates for today’s UFC 249 main event from Jacksonville.
Join us today on Bloody Elbow for live results, discussion, round scoring, and play-by-play as UFC 249 goes down in the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida.
The main event will be an interim lightweight title fight between Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje. The co-main is for a belt too, with Henry Cejudo putting up his bantamweight title against former champ Dominick Cruz, who returns after three-year layoff.
This post will cover the main event between El Cucuy and The Highlight. The headliner was originally supposed to be for the undisputed lightweight title between champ Khabib Nurmagomedov and Ferguson. However, the coronavirus pandemic upended everything and Khabib cannot leave Russia right now. So in steps Gaethje, who is coming off a quick win over Donald Cerrone in September which extended his winning streak to three. Ferguson is on a twelve-fight win streak, with the last coming against Cerrone last June.
Main PPV Card (10pm ET)
Tony Ferguson vs. Justin Gaethje
Round 1 – Front kick from Ferguson. Low kick from Gaethje. Body kick from El Cucuy. He walks backwards at Gaethje, then throws 3 kicks. Gaethje with an outside leg kick and lands a right. Shovel hook from Ferguson. Jab. Low kick from Ferguson right as Gaethje lands a right. Two hard left hooks from Gaethje. Ferguson with a thigh punch. Gaethje misses the home run shot. He lands a left hook, a leg kick, and another left hook. Head kick from Ferguson, and a jab. Ferguson tumbles away but is up immediately. Another leg kick from Gaethje. Both men land huge rights at the same time. Inside leg kick from Gaethje. Jab from Ferguson, but Gaethje clubs him back with a 1-2. Ferguson with a hard outside leg kick. Gaethje with a counter right. Nice left hook too. Another hard right. Hard jab from Ferguson. They both connect with big shots again! Hard left again. Ferguson might have got poked in the eye. 10-9 Gaethje.
Round 2 – Gaethje with a right immediately as Ferguson threw a superman punch. Gaethje with a massive left hook! Ferguson just takes it. He gets back to jabbing. Ferguson with a right hook. Gaethje goes back to the left. Lead right hook from The Highlight. Nice low kick. Again. Ferguson with a left. He lands a combo. They both land again. Gaethje with a right hook over the top. Ferguson with a hard two-punch combo. Thigh punch. Three more shots from Gaethje. Body shot. Gaethje just walks in and clubs him with a left hook. Hard leg kick from Ferguson. Nice shovel hook again from Ferguson, but he took two shots. Huge left hook! This is insane. Spinning elbow and a side kick from Ferguson. Two low kicks. Gaethje with a low kick as Ferguson winged and missed with a right. Gaethje with two more big shots. Ferguson with a nice low kick. He gets a combo in as well. Gaethje responds immediately. Leg kick and elbows from Ferguson. Gaethje swings and misses. Ferguson with a huge uppervut at the horn that knocks Gaethje down! He thinks he’s fine, but that got him good. 10-9 Gaethje.
Round 3 – Head kick from Ferguson is blocked. Gaethje with a right hook. Body/head from Geathje. Straight right from Gaethje. Low kick and two right hooks from Gaethje. Ferguson has a cut under his eye. Elbow from Ferguson. Gaethje catches Ferguson trying to jump in on him. Low kick from Ferguson. Huge right hook nearly drops Ferguson! He comes back with one of his own! Uppercut from Ferguson. Ferguson blows his nose. Huge left hook. And another. i don’t know how Ferguson is still standing. Right hook over the top from Gaethje. Ferguson with a straight left. Another left. Big right over the top for Gaethje. Ferguson with a reaching left and body shot. He just sweep kicked Gaethje! That was crazy. Another monster shot from Gaethje. Leg kick from Ferguson. 10-9 Gaethje.
Round 4 – Inside leg kick from Gaethje. Ferguson with an outside leg kick. Ferguson with a jab and a wheel kick. Gaethje with a right hook. Ferguson misses with an elbow and eats two left hooks. Two more big shots from Ferguson. Low kick from Ferguson, but yet another left from Gaethje. Low kick from Gaethje. Front kick to the body from Ferguson. Jumping switch kick. Ferguson with a solid left. They both land nice shots. Gaethje finally hurt Ferguson! He’s backing off! Two more big shots! Ferguson trying to fire back. Another leg kick from Gaethje. Gaethje lands another right hook. I would love to see the significant strike numbers for this fight. Low kick by Ferguson. Gaethje doesn’t need a break. Body shot from Ferguson. Nice jab and a left hook as well. Thigh punch. Gaethje was a brutal leg kick that sends Ferguson staggering. Nice right from Gaethje. Ferguson fires back. Head kick from Gaethje. Body shot from Ferg. 10-9 Gaethje.
Round 5 – Ferguson tries to scoop an ankle right away, but can’t. Low kick from Gaethje. Front kick from Ferguson. Ferguson comes up short with a left, but Gaethje connects with the counter. Three punch combo from Gaethje with major power, and more leg kicks. Body kick from Ferguson. Low kick. Gaethje with another huge combo that sends Ferguson staggering back across the cage! WOW! Ferguson is still there though. Hard jab from Gaethje. Imanari roll from Ferguson, but he’s nowhere near Gaethje. Both of them land big shots. Gaethje lands harder though, and just pushes Ferguson over. Ferguson is stumbling because his front leg is messed up. Body shot from Ferguson. TWO MORE HUGE SHOTS FROM GAETHJE! How is Tony Ferguson still conscious? I don’t get it. He’s not human. Gaethje with another low kick and Ferguson limps awa, unable to defend himself. They finally, mercifully call off the fight.
Justin Gaethje defeated Tony Ferguson via TKO (strikes), 3:39 of round 5