Dana White says select media members will be invited to UFC 249

UFC president Dana White confirmed that select media members will be invited to be a part of UFC 249 despite the restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic.

White announced Monday the full UFC 249 card, including an interim lightweight title fight between Justin Gaethje and Tony Ferguson at the top of the bill. Also on the card is a rematch between former women’s strawweight champions Jessica Andrade and Rose Namajunas, a heavyweight bout between Francis Ngannou and Jairzinho Rozenstruik, and a featherweight bout between Calvin Kattar and Jeremy Stephens. The location is still a secret.

While the card is stacked on paper, no fans will be allowed in attendance for the event, which was to be expected. In fact, the number of cornermen and families of the fighters and UFC staff will also be limited. However, in a bit of a surprise, White says that some media members will be allowed to attend the event.

Check out what White told ESPN about the media covering UFC 249.

“There are some members of the media that have reached out to me that want to go. I’ll bring them. I’ll bring some of these media members that want to go,” White said.

“But other than that, it’s not open to the fans,” he added. “It’s on ESPN. That’s it. That’s all that anyone needs to know.”

It’s definitely surprising to hear that some media members will be invited to cover the event when there are strict limits in place for how many people can be in a room during a certain period of time. But clearly White still wants the show to go on and look as close to a normal UFC card as possible, even though that won’t involve fans being in attendance.

What do you think about Dana White inviting certain media members to UFC 249?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 4/7/2020.