Dana White is at it again.
After high-ranking Disney and ESPN officials asked the UFC president to stand down and postpone UFC 249, which was slated for this Saturday, White told ESPN on Tuesday that he's deep in the process of building the UFC 250 card for May 9 despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
ESPN additionally reported that White wants the card to have the same main event as UFC 249 was supposed to have in Tony Ferguson battling Justin Gaethje for the interim lightweight title. The UFC president is also targeting bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo against Dominick Cruz and featherweight women's champ Amanda Nunes vs. Felicia Spencer for the May 9 event.
The rest of UFC 250's fights consist of bouts that were booked for 249 or previously postponed cards, as the company has postponed its events on March 21, March 28, April 11 and April 18 due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
According to White, as reported by ESPN, the entire UFC 250 card is as follows:
- Tony Ferguson vs. Justin Gaethje
- Henry Cejudo vs. Dominick Cruz
- Amanda Nunes vs. Felicia Spencer
- Francis Ngannou vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
- Jeremy Stephens vs. Calvin Kattar
- Donald Cerrone vs. Anthony Pettis
- Greg Hardy vs. Yorgan de Castro
- Aleksei Oleinik vs. Fabricio Werdum
- Carla Esparza vs. Michelle Waterson
- Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza vs. Uriah Hall
- Vicente Luque vs. Niko Price
- Charles Rosa vs. Bryce Mitchell
Originally, UFC 250 was set for Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, but the coronavirus crisis dashed those plans. White declined to tell ESPN the location for the May 9 card, but did tell Variety on Tuesday night that the company's APEX facility in Las Vegas could be the site for its live fights "starting next month."
“We built the APEX facility next door just in time to save the day from this pandemic,” White said in an email statement to Variety. “Live fights will be produced out of there starting next month and for the foreseeable future.”
White also told ESPN last week that his "Fight Island" would be ready in about a month, although he didn't reveal its physical location. He also vowed last week that the UFC will be the first major sports organization to return to action amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
To that end, White received support from President Trump, who referred to him as "the great Dana White" during his press conference Tuesday. Trump said White will be among the sports leaders consulted on how to bring sports back to action during the pandemic.
“In sports — we want to get our sports back, so importantly,” Trump said. "We have to get our sports back. I’m tired of watching baseball games that are 14 years old. But I haven’t actually had too much time to watch. I would say maybe I watch one batter, and then I get back to work.”