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A city and a venue have been reported for UFC 249 next month.
Earlier this week, a report stated UFC 249 was heading to Florida on May 9th. The card now has a city to its name, as the event is set to take place in Jacksonville.
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer revealed the news on Thursday, though the UFC is yet to make an official announcement. Meltzer revealed the event will take place at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville. The news goes against a statement made ASM Global, a company that manages seven venues in the city, as they indicated the venue would be closed until further notice due to the coronavirus outbreak.
“It looks like it’s going to be the (VyStar) Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville. I think it’s disclosed then. They’ve actually told fighters that they’re flying into Jacksonville, but there are people in Jacksonville that have to book a building. That’s where it looks like it’s going to be. It’s right across from Daily’s Place (Amphitheater),” Meltzer said (Transcription via Sherdog.com)
The event was originally supposed to be headlined by a UFC lightweight title fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson, and take place at the Barclays Center in New York. Despite the promotion’s best efforts to keep the card alive, it was ultimately postponed due to COVID-19 will now take place in the Sunshine state.
UFC 249 on May 9th is expected to be headlined by an interim UFC lightweight title fight between Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje. In the co-main event, Henry Cejudo will attempt to defend his bantamweight title against Dominick Cruz.