After two months, live sports in the United States have returned in the form of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). UFC 249 took place Saturday night at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. The event, originally scheduled to take place on Saturday, April 18, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, has undergone drastic changes in the last two months.
The main event originally saw a UFC Lightweight Championship bout between current champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and former interim champion Tony Ferguson. But, Nurmagomedov announced on Monday, March 30, that he was in Dagestan and was unlikely to make the fight due to the worldwide travel restrictions as a result of the coronavirus. He was replaced two weeks later by Justin Gaethje, with the interim champion to be decided between him and Ferguson.
Other changes to the card were made over the next few weeks, including one made at the very last second. A middleweight fight between Ronaldo Souza and Uriah Hall was cancelled shortly after the two weighed in on Friday. Souza and two of his cornermen tested positive for the coronavirus.
“As per UFC’s health and safety protocols, all three men have left the host hotel and will be self-isolating off premises, where UFC’s medical team will monitor their conditions remotely and will provide assistance with any necessary treatment,” the company said in a statement.
With no one else testing positive, the event went on as planned and without a hitch.
It was quiet in the arena, as no fans were permitted to attend, but a few things were audible on the broadcast. The arena blared music when fighters made their entrances and the announcers called the fight like normal. Even fighters could be heard at some points.
The preliminary fights had fans engaged from the very beginning. Ryan Spann defeated Sam Alvey by split decision to kick the festivities off in a very solid first fight. Other highlights included Anthony Pettis defeating Donald Cerrone by unanimous decision in a back-and-forth contest, Aleksei Oleinik picking up an impressive win against veteran Fabricio Werdum and Niko Price’s gruesome eye gash that gave Vicente Luque the victory after doctors stopped the fight.
The quiet atmosphere may have benefitted some fighters. TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter tweeted that during the women’s strawweight fight between Carla Esparza and Michelle Waterson, Esparza could hear commentator and former heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier calling the fight while she was in the octagon. He added that Cormier “criticized her for not mixing up her strikes and her wrestling and she used it as advice and started to mix it up more.” Esparza defeated Waterson by split decision.
The main card is what really made this pay-per-view one to remember. Greg Hardy squared off against Yorgan De Castro in a heavyweight slugfest. A couple of leg kicks by De Castro in the first round gave Hardy a nasty bruise on his left thigh. Although Hardy was hurt for the next two rounds, he survived long enough to earn a split decision victory over De Castro. The next fight saw the first knockout of the night after nearly four hours. In round two, Calvin Kattar caught Jeremy Stephens with a right elbow, followed by punches that gave Stephens a huge gash on his forehead. That knockout was quickly outdone by the next fight as Francis Ngannou struck Jairzinho Rozenstruik with a vicious left hand to pick up in the victory in 20 seconds.
A bit of controversy came with the penultimate fight for the UFC Bantamweight Championship. The champion, Henry Cejudo, faced off against Dominick Cruz – a grizzled veteran who had not stepped foot in the octagon for over three years. Cejudo tagged Cruz late in the second round with a knee strike and a flurry of unanswered shots. Cruz seemed to be getting back on his feet toward the end of the shots, but referee Keith Peterson stopped the fight anyway and declared Cejudo the winner. Immediately after the fight, Cruz voiced his disapproval.
“I specifically asked the ref to make sure he let me take the shots I needed to,” said Cruz. “Give me a fighting chance in that. This is for a world title; this isn’t some backyard fight.”
In his post-fight interview, Cejudo announced his retirement from mixed martial arts. He finished his 7-year career with a record of 16-2.
“I’m happy with my career,” Cejudo said. “Since I was 11 years old, I sacrificed my whole life to get where I’m at today. I’m not going to let nobody take that from me.”
From there, it was on to the main event. Ferguson and Gaethje engaged in an all-out battle that almost went the distance. Gaethje took control for most of the fight, especially in the later rounds. But, in the fifth and final round, Gaethje landed some punches that rocked Ferguson and referee Herb Dean stopped the contest and declared Gaethje the new interim UFC Lightweight Champion. Upon receiving the belt, Gaethje gave it back to UFC president Dana White, saying, “I’ll wait for the real one.” Gaethje’s future fight with Nurmagomedov is sure to be a brawl for the ages.
The UFC returned in a major way. Although there were no fans in the stands cheering on their favorite fighters, the fight night feel was still there for the fans watching at home. The company plans to continue its events with no fans for the time being. The next pay-per-view scheduled is UFC 250 on June 6, with the location to be determined in the coming weeks.
Photo courtesy of Jeff Bottari
