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While a few upcoming Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) events have been postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak, mixed martial arts (MMA) fans are still holding out hope that UFC 249 takes places next month.
That’s because the event is being headlined by a long-awaited meeting between undefeated UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and streaking contender Tony Ferguson.
Originally scheduled to unfold on April 18 inside Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, UFC 249 now has to find a new home after New York State put the final kibosh on the event. UFC president Dana White is adamant that he can find a new venue to host the upcoming pay-per-view card but options are starting to run out.
Luckily, Ben Askren is here to save the day. White and “Funky” haven’t had the best relationship over the years, but maybe it’s time to take a page out of Askren’s book when it comes to staging UFC 249 next month amidst a global crisis.
“The one thing I said last night was, let’s not get greedy, Dana, let’s make this really simple,” said Askren in a recent interview with Submission Radio (shown above). “All we need is Tony and Khabib, we don’t need an f’ing undercard. So, in America they’re doing 10 people maximum, you can’t have more than 10 people in a group. So, you’ve got Tony, Khabib, three judges. But, you could also have the judges be remote. So, you don’t actually have to have them there. Your referee, you have Dana, you have Bruce Buffer and you have Joe Rogan maybe. Maybe we take the judges out and make the judges remote at a remote location and we give them each two coaches or something, or one coach. I think there’s a way to do it to keep it under ten people and broadcast it.”
“It’s awesome. Please, please don’t cancel it.”
While UFC obviously wants to keep the entire card in tact, especially since it currently features notable fighters such as Rose Namajunas, Jessica Andrade, Jeremy Stephens, and Ronaldo Souza, this isn’t the worst idea thrown out there these past few weeks. It would be nice to see a full card take place and bring fight fans back into the fold, but if Khabib vs. Tony is the only bout we get to see at UFC 249 then so be it.
What say you, Maniacs? Would you be willing to pay the $65 PPV entry fee to see just Khabib vs. Ferguson at UFC 249?
Sound off!
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