UFC 249 Viewers Weigh in on Crowdless Event

Saturday night, the UFC returned to action with UFC 249. The stacked event was held in [...]

By John Newby

Saturday night, the UFC returned to action with UFC 249. The stacked event was held in Jacksonville and featured Tony Ferguson facing off with Justin Gaethje and Henry Cejundo defending his title against Dominick Cruz. The viewers were excited, but they did notice one major difference in the broadcast. The UFC event was held without fans in attendance on Saturday night due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is something that WWE has been doing in order to keep providing live events, and the UFC was following suit. There were no celebrities waving at the cameras, and there were no screaming fans cheering on their favorite fighters.

The athletes made the most of their opportunities and even had some good-natured fun. For example, Sam Alvey walked out and pointed to all of the empty seats as if they were still filled. The fans, on the other hand, had very mixed feelings. There were certainly many that absolutely despised the lack of noise during the pay-per-view. This was not a universal opinion, however, considering that many expressed excitement. They were happy to hear the coaches providing instructions during the various fights and felt that this was a new level of access.

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