Dana White has revealed that the revised fight card for April 18th’s event will be announced later today, while confirming that lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov is no longer part of the line-up.
White delivered the news while shooting down a claim for ESPN’s Ariel Helwani that Nurmagomedov was going to fight Tony Ferguson in the main event after all.
“Absolutely NOT true!!!” White responded on Twitter. “The card is happening but @TeamKhabib is out. I will announce the entire card tomorrow.”
Rumors suggest that a previously touted match-up between Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje is likely to be the headliner for the event.
Meanwhile, ESPN have also reported that the event is likely to take place at an as-yet-unnanounced location on the west coast of the United States.
It’s also believed that the UFC have also been considering the possibility of hosting the event on “tribal lands” if they have to.
As things stand the currently location they are homing in on could play host not to just UFC 249, but also several other events in the coming weeks.
As we’ve discussed previously, continuing to put on events despite the current restrictions and health warnings in place around the globe is likely to lead to a lot of bad publicity for the UFC as the event draws closer, but nevertheless, White is as bullish as ever about forging ahead with it.
