• UFC 249 cancelled due to the coronavirus
  • UFC Chief had vowed to have the event despite criticisms to it
  • All UFC events now cancelled indefinitely due to the coronavirus

UFC 249 was cancelled late on Thursday night after ESPN and Disney stopped UFC Chief Dana White’s plan to keep the event on April 18.

White had vowed to have the sporting event despite repeated calls to have it cancelled, as the rest of the sporting events are on halt, due to Covid-19.

White had laid out an ambitious plan of ‘having fights every week’ behind closed doors, and that he was in the process of securing a private island on which to stage the bouts.

He would then announce that for April 18 on ESPN plus pay-per-view, he would have the event at Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino on tribal land in California’s Central Valley.

He told ESPN MMA: ‘This whole thing has been a battle since day one, we’ve been fighting non stop all day and all night since the pandemic started to put on this event on April 18.

‘Today we got a call from the highest level you can go at Disney and the highest level of ESPN.

‘One thing I’ve said, it’s been an amazing partnership, ESPN has been very good to us and the powers that be there asked me to stand down and not do this event next Saturday.’

All UFC events have now now been postponed indefinitely.

A few hours earlier, former Strawweight champion Rose Namajunas dropped out of her fight with Jessica Andrade after two of her family members tragically died of coronavirus.

Namajunas had been hoping to avenge the Brazilian’s KO win in their first bout

Plans for UFC 249 were thrown in limbo when Khabib Nurmagomedov informed that he will not be able to feature in the fight.

He was scheduled to take on Tony Ferguson but the lightweight champion got stranded in Russia as the nation placed a travel ban on all flights as part of the country’s measures in battling Covid-19.

In his place, UFC got Justin Gaethje to take on Ferguson in the main event

White announced the cancellation shortly after US senator Dianne Feinstein issued a statement urging the mixed martial arts promotion to reconsider its plan.

Communication and Media Trainer. Believer in humility and kindness. Ardent Sports Fan.

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