MMA
UFC's next four shows, including Khabib-Ferguson, forced to relocate because of coronavirus pandemic
The UFC is being forced to seek new venue options to host its next four shows — including the highly anticipated showdown between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson — after a series of developments related to the coronavirus pandemic.
UFC president Dana White appeared on ESPN's "SportsCenter" early Sunday to discuss the promotion's plans for its upcoming series of shows.
Next weekend's UFC London card, headlined by a welterweight tilt between Tyron Woodley and Leon Edwards, will no longer take place at the O2 Arena in London because of travel restrictions that were expanded by President Donald Trump that now include the United Kingdom and Ireland. According to White, that fight will take place at an undisclosed venue in the United States.
"Obviously, things are changing by the hour," White said. "(Saturday) morning, they announced new travel restrictions for the U.K., so (the March 21 event) can't continue in London. But the fight will go on. We're working on finding a new venue, likely in the United States, and I have my matchmakers literally working right now to put together the undercard."
Plans to host events at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas were shuttered earlier Saturday when the Nevada State Athletic Commission suspended all combat sports events through March 25. The UFC aimed to host the March 28 UFC on ESPN: Ngannou vs. Rozenstruik card and the April 11 UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Harris at the Apex but is now looking for other venue options.
"As of now, fights can't happen at the Apex here in Las Vegas," White said. "So we're working to find new locations, but the fights will go on; they will continue. We're not stopping."
One of those fights is the lightweight title showdown at UFC 249 between Nurmagomedov and Ferguson, which has failed to come together for the past five years because of a litany of issues. This is the fifth time the UFC has attempted to book the fight and it's in danger of seeing it fall apart again. But White said that he will find a location for the card that was originally slated for April 18 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. With the state of New York declaring a state of emergency and banning gatherings of more than 500 people, the fight will no longer take place there.
"That fight will happen," he affirmed. "It will go on. The fans are all freaking out about that, do not worry. Khabib vs. Tony will happen."
The UFC is the only professional sporting organization that has attempted to continue holding events despite the growing coronavirus pandemic. The promotion successfully held an empty-arena fight card in Brasilia, Brazil, on Saturday, but the future of holding such events in the United States remains uncertain. White remains adamant that each of those upcoming fights will take place unless there is a "total shutdown" of the country.
"We're going to move on," White said. "These fights will happen. These guys will compete. We will find venues and we will figure this thing out. I mean, the only thing that's gonna stop us is a complete government shutdown, where everybody is confined to their homes."
