Dana White: Revamped UFC 249 card ‘could get better’

UFC President Dana White is working on orchestrating a triumphant return for the promotion on May 9. He’s already stacked this revamped UFC 249 card with three title fights, and from the sounds of it, it could get even bigger

“It could get better,” White told Yahoo! Sports of the May 9 event. “It really could. You look at that card and it’s stacked, but I have some fights I’m working on, if I get them done, this card is going to be absolutely crazy.”

At present, this May 9 event — which is an amalgam of the derailed UFC 249 and the UFC 250 card originally scheduled to go down in Brazil on the same date  — is expected to be headlined by an interim lightweight title fight between top contenders Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje. Ferguson was originally expected to fight undisputed lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 249, but was re-booked for a fight with Gaethje when Nurmagomedov got stuck in Russia.

The new UFC 249 card will be co-headlined by a bantamweight title fight between outspoken champ Henry Cejudo and long-absent former champ Dominick Cruz. Cejudo was originally expected to defend his belt against Jose Aldo at UFC 250, but turned his attention to Cruz when Aldo got stuck in Brazil.

The third title fight on this new-and-improved UFC 249 card will see Amanda Nunes defend her featherweight belt against Felicia Spencer. This fight was also originally expected to occur at UFC 250.

Here’s the new UFC 249 card as it currently stands:

• Tony Ferguson vs. Justin Gaethje
• Henry Cejudo vs. Dominick Cruz
• Amanda Nunes vs. Felcia Spencer
• Francis Ngannou vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
• Jeremy Stephens vs. Calvin Kattar
• Donald Cerrone vs. Anthony Pettis
• Greg Hardy vs. Yorgan de Castro
• Alexei Oleinik vs. Fabricio Werdum
• Carla Esparza vs. Michelle Waterson
• Jacare Souza vs. Uriah Hall
• Vicente Luque vs. Niko Price
• Charles Rosa vs. Bryce Mitchell

What fights would you like to see added to the UFC 249 bill?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 4/16/2020.