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UFC Heavyweight Champion Stipe Miocic discusses how being a firefighter has helped him in the octagon. He talks about past and potential upcoming UFC fights. Miocic also talks about his new collaboration with Fire Department Coffee.
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Dana White has reportedly found a home for UFC 249.
The UFC president plans to hold the event on tribal land in Central California on April 18, which would work around guidelines against holding large gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic, according to the New York Times.
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Most sports leagues across the globe have been put on hold because of the virus, but White believes that the UFC will be able to hold events without fans in attendance.
“This place where this fight is going to be… I have locked up for two months, so I’m going to continue to pump fights out,” White said to ESPN on Monday.
The location of UFC 249 will be the Tachi Palace Casino Resort near Lemoore, Calif., which is about 40 miles south of Fresno, according to the newspaper. The land belongs to the Tachi-Yokut Tribe, which is a part of the Santa Rosa Indian Community. According to the newspaper, the location was first reported by Jeff Sherwood, who is the co-host of the “Behind the Pay Wall” Mixed Martial Arts podcast.
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Because of the spread of the coronavirus, the UFC was forced to postpone three events in March and April, as states began demanding that nonessential workers had to stay home. The UFC does not have to listen to California’s executive order, and the fights on the card do not need to be approved by the California State Athletic Commission since the event will be on tribal land.
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The Barclays Center in Brooklyn was the original host of UFC 249, and the main event was supposed to be a lightweight championship matchup between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson.
But after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo restricted mass gatherings and the New York State Athletic Commission announced it wouldn’t approve the event, White said the UFC would move forward. Nurmagomedov, who resides in Russia, can’t leave the country, and he will be replaced by Justin Gaethje. Since 2015, Nurmagomedov and Ferguson have been scheduled to fight each other five times, but plans fell apart due to injury, illness and now the coronavirus pandemic.
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