UFC has decided to push back three of its upcoming events. Dana White, UFC President, announced UFC Fight Night events set for March 21, March 28 and April 11 have been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic and the White House advising the country to limit gatherings to 10 people or fewer. White did say that the match between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson is still happening as it is scheduled for April 18.
White sent an email to his entire staff about the upcoming events which was obtained by ESPN. He wrote: “As you’ve heard me say, I’ve been in the fight game for 20 years, and this is what we do: We find a way to keep our events going no matter what. But this is different. The whole world is being affected right now, and nothing is more important than the health and safety of you and your families.”
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The Nurmagomedov vs. Ferguson match is the main event for UFC 249, which was set to take place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. White made an appearance on ESPN’s SportsCenter on Monday and he said he’s hoping that the guidelines clear up by the time the fight is scheduled.
“Tony Ferguson versus Khabib Nurmagomedov is still on,” White said. “That will happen. We’re going to follow these guidelines, not have more than 10 people in a room. We’re hoping this all clears up by April, and this fight is going to happen. Whatever it takes, probably not in the United States, but this fight is going to happen.”
UFC was one of the last sports organizations to postpone events, The promotion held a UFC Fight Night in Brazil on Saturday with no fans in the arena. The event was originally set to take place in London, but the travel restrictions prevented that from happening.
“Obviously, the president just spoke to the country and basically said — it started at [no more than] 50 people in a room, which made [Saturday’s UFC Fight Night in Brasilia] difficult, but we complied, we took all fans out and made sure as few production people in the room as possible, we pulled it off last Saturday,” White said. “Now, they’re saying thee should be no more than 10 people, and that’s impossible. We can’t do it.”
