{"id":7227,"date":"2020-04-10T23:21:14","date_gmt":"2020-04-10T23:21:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/?p=7227"},"modified":"2020-04-10T23:21:14","modified_gmt":"2020-04-10T23:21:14","slug":"ufc-249-cancelled-amid-concerns-over-covid-19-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/ufc-249-cancelled-amid-concerns-over-covid-19-pandemic","title":{"rendered":"UFC 249 Cancelled Amid Concerns over COVID-19 Pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The UFC has announced that UFC 249 has been cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic after assertions from Dana White the event would go on.<\/p><\/div>\n

After a confident Dana White insisted that UFC 249 would be a go, on the 18th of April, he did a complete twist and called off the event citing concerns over a lack of venue and the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

White maintained that UFC 249 would carry on as scheduled as recently as this Wednesday, however, he has since postponed all upcoming events without any insight being offered when they will be rescheduled.<\/p>\n

The turnaround on Thursday was on the same day that the organization was pushed to not continue with any high-profile fights, which for UFC 249, was apparently due to take place on tribal land in California. Commenting on the abrupt turn of events, the UFC said,<\/p>\n

“While the organization was fully prepared to proceed with UFC 249, ESPN has requested the postponement of the event and subsequent bouts until further notice in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The UFC looks forward to resuming the full live events schedule as soon as possible.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

President of the UFC, Dana White advised ESPN on Thursday that the decision was made after receiving calls from the highest levels in the Disney Corporation. Commenting, White said,<\/p>\n

\u201cESPN has been very very good to us and the powers that be there asked me to stand down and not do this event (April 18).”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The UFC<\/a> recently has had to cancel a number of events due to bans on public gatherings related to COVID-19. The last televised event was held in Brazil in March but was without any fans in attendance. However, White was being firm on his insistence that UFC 249 would not be cancelled, a night that was set to feature the high-profile matchup between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson.<\/p>\n

CBS Sports<\/strong><\/p>\n