On Saturday, May 9, the UFC hosted UFC 249: Ferguson vs. Gaethje from the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla. The event once again featured no fans in attendance due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the night’s main event, top-ranked lightweights collided as Tony Ferguson met Justin Gaethje for the interim lightweight title. California’s Ferguson entered the headlining affair riding a 12-fight winning streak. The TUF winner previously held interim gold and has been scheduled to meet current champion Khabib Nurmagomedov on five occasions, but the fight has yet to come to fruition. Gaethje, meanwhile, is a former World Series of Fighting champion known for his all-action fights. After a pair of setbacks when he first stepped into the Octagon, the Colorado product had scored three straight knockout victories.
Gold was also on the line in the co-main event, as bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo defended his belt against the most dominant fighter in the division’s history, former champion Dominick Cruz.
The event kicked off with two fights streaming live on UFC Fight Pass at 7 p.m. ET. The preliminary card continued on ESPN at 8 p.m. ET with four additional bouts. The five-fight main card aired live via ESPN+ pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET.
Henry Cejudo def. Dominick Cruz by TKO (strikes). Round 2, 4:58 – for bantamweight title
Francis Ngannou def. Jairzinho Rozenstruik by knockout (punches). Round 1, 0:20
Calvin Kattar def. Jeremy Stephens by TKO (elbows). Round 2, 2:42
Greg Hardy def. Yorgan De Castro by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
Anthony Pettis def. Donald Cerrone by unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
Aleksei Oleinik def. Fabrício Werdum by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
Carla Esparza def. Michelle Waterson by split decision (27-30, 29-28, 30-27)
Vicente Luque def. Niko Price by TKO (doctor’s stoppage). Round 3, 3:37
Bryce Mitchell def. Charles Rosa by unanimous decision (30-25, 30-25, 30-24)
Ryan Spann def. Sam Alvey by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)