Fighters react after Dana White announces UFC 249 cancellation
Earlier this afternoon Dana White broke the unfortunate news that the promotion has decided to cancel UFC 249 which was set for April 18.
The pay-per-view event was originally slated to take place in Brooklyn and feature a lightweight title fight between Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov.
However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the event not only had to be moved, but also lost ‘The Eagle’ who was forced to stay in his home country of Russia.
Courtesy UFC.com
With that, the promotion turned to Justin Gaethje to step in and fight Tony Ferguson on short-notice at UFC 249 for the UFC’s interim lightweight title.
The April 18 event was moved to tribal land in California and a new twelve-bout fight card was announced by the promotion.
UFC 249 originally lost its scheduled co-main event yesterday afternoon when it was announced that Rose Namajunas had been forced out of her slated rematch with Jessica Andrade.
Today, the promotion decided to officially cancel the UFC 249 fight card, this while postponing all future events.
Check out how fighters reacted to the UFC 249 cancellation below:
https://twitter.com/danthehangman/status/1248371072413528064
Booooo https://t.co/5jGj49Pv02
— Funky (@Benaskren) April 9, 2020
https://twitter.com/THEREALPUNK/status/1248379901557661698
https://twitter.com/DerekBrunson/status/1248374836272889856
Niko Price, who was slated to compete at UFC 249 shared the following reaction:
— Niko Price (@Nikohybridprice) April 9, 2020
I just accepted my 3rd opponent in a week… sucks. Stay safe everyone !
— Chris Weidman (@chrisweidman) April 9, 2020
Man I’m feeling for my fellow colleagues. This blows. #UFC249 canceled ❌
— #OnAmission4Gold (@KelvinGastelum) April 9, 2020
Sad for the fighters and fans who got their hopes up for this. But maybe it’s best to give this virus more time to blow over.
It’s probably bitter-sweet for many of the workers and fighters scheduled to scrap.
We all want to make money, but we want to protect our families too. https://t.co/zSg0KSWoy2— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) April 9, 2020
With UFC 249 now officially cancelled, one would have to believe that the promotion will now look to rebook the highly anticipated Tony Ferguson vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov matchup for a sixth time.
As for Justin Gaethje, the surging UFC lightweight contender will likely turn his attention back to Conor McGregor following today’s disappointing announcement.
Gaethje has been calling for a fight with the Irish star for months now, but to date McGregor has yet to accept the request.
What do you think of the fighters reactions to the cancellation of this month’s UFC 249 pay-per-view event which was slated for April 18? Share your thoughts in the comments section PENN Nation!
on April 9, 2020
Topics:
Dana White UFC UFC 249
