Ferguson to fight Gaethje for interim title at UFC 249
Tony Ferguson will fight Justin Gaethje for the interim lightweight title in the new UFC 249 main event on April 18, the promotion announced Monday.
The event, originally scheduled for Brooklyn but uprooted due to the coronavirus pandemic, is still without a new location. UFC president Dana White tweeted Monday that the fight will take place "somewhere on Earth."
The fight is signed and is 100% ON LIVE on ESPN somewhere on EARTH!!!! 😃@TonyFergusonXT vs @Justin_Gaethje is LIVE on @espn+ PPV April 18th for the interim lightweight belt! pic.twitter.com/aH44zg5K30
— Dana White (@danawhite) April 6, 2020
UFC 249 was originally headlined by a long-awaited title bout between lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and Ferguson, but Nurmagomedov is stuck in Russia due to travel restrictions amid the COVID-19 outbreak. "The Eagle" also cited not having a location for the card as one of the reasons he didn't want to fight on April 18.
Ferguson is coming off a TKO win over Donald Cerrone at UFC 238 last June. "El Cucuy" has won 12 fights in a row.
Gaethje also defeated "Cowboy" in his last bout, stopping the veteran with a first-round TKO at UFC Vancouver last September. "The Highlight" has won three straight fights, which also includes a first-round knockout of Edson Barboza in early 2019.
There are several other fights currently slated for the April 18 pay-per-view event, but it's unclear which ones, if any, will still happen. White said recently the UFC 249 lineup will likely be a mix of original matchups and ones slated for the three cards the promotion postponed due to the pandemic.