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Justin Gaethje staged an amazing masterclass to pull off a surprising knockout victory over Tony Ferguson and win the interim lightweight title at UFC 249, which took place at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida on Saturday.
Ferguson, who entered the fight on a 12-win streak, suffered damage when Gaethje cut off his legs and thundered at him with thunderous hooks before referee Herb Dean stepped in to end the fight at the end of the fifth round.
With more than 80,000 deaths in the United States due to Covid-19, the UFC was criticized for organizing the event, which took place without fans in the stands and with strict health and safety protocols. The UFC He had pulled a fight off the card Saturday in Jacksonville after middleweight Ronaldo “J’acare” Souza and two of his cornerbacks tested positive for coronavirus, the mixed martial arts promotion said.
Souza, of Brazilian origin, was supposed to fight the American Uriah Hall, which was originally scheduled for April 18 in New York, but postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.
In addition to the wrestlers, referees, and commentators, event staff wore face masks and only one cornerback per wrestler was allowed to enter the cage on breaks between rounds.
“It was fun, I could hear a lot. Everyone out there could hear clearly, but at the same time … it was not much different than if the crowd were there, “Vicente Luque told reporters after his arrest victory over Niko Price.
Such was the silence that Luque was able to hear commentators, and heavyweight Greg Hardy said he was able to follow television commentator Daniel Cormier’s advice to counter Yorgan De Castro’s kicks on the way to a decisive victory.
However, the biggest prize of the night went to Gaethje, who is now next in line to face Khabib Nurmagomedov for the undisputed lightweight crown. “I’ll wait for the real one,” Gaethje said as he tossed the acting belt aside moments after he put it around his waist.
In the co-main event, Henry Cejudo retained his bantamweight belt with a second-round stopping victory over Dominick Cruz before immediately retiring in the octagon. The 33-year-old, who won a gold medal for wrestling at the 2008 Olympics, said he was happy with his career and wanted to start a family.
Returning after a long layoff, former champion Cruz dropped to his knees and suffered the first knockout of his career with just two seconds remaining in the second round.
Despite the absence of a crowd, the fights themselves were not without intensity, with Francis Ngannou scoring the night’s knockout, hitting Jairzinho Rozenstruik with a left hook to force an arrest after just 20 seconds of the first round. .
Sam Alvey was the first fighter in the empty arena at night, pointing and colliding the imaginary crowd as he made his way to the cage where he fell to a decision loss to Ryan Spann in the opening bout of the night on the preliminary card.
