UFC SET TO RETURN ON PAY PER VIEW

By Robert Rios
El Rodeo Staff Writer

        UFC President Dana White tried to hold the UFC 249 pay-per-view on April 19th despite the Coronavirus pandemic before having to postpone the event.
    Dana White then looked into purchasing an island solely to hold fights for fighters that cannot travel from foreign countries. 
    After a three week delay, the UFC made its return on  Saturday May 9th in Jacksonville Florida, which was headlined by the main event bout of Tony Ferguson vs. Justin Gaethje.
    Things did not go smoothly as an undercard fight between Ronaldo "Jacaré" Souza and Uriah Hall was called off after Souza tested for the coronavirus after having concerns that a family member possibly tested positive. No other fighter tested positive for Covid-19 and the pay-per-view then went on as planned. 
    The fighters and Dana White agreed that fighters could potentially risk losing prize money bonuses if they “suggest or communicate” that the UFC did not have proper safety precautions in place. 
“If a fighter says something that isn’t true — if he says we didn’t test anyone for this — that would [violate the agreement],” White said. “But if he said something true, his opinion, then that is different.”
The night ended with a successful main event bout between Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje. Gaethje had control for the majority of the fight and eventually came out victorious, winning by TKO in the fifth round and becoming the interim Lightweight Champion and calling out Khabib Nurmagomedov in his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan.
The UFC hopes to be the example for other major sports in American to form plans on how they can resume or begin their seasons in the summer.