UFC yields to pressure, cancels event
UFC249 was canceled Thursday after ESPN and parent company Disney stopped UFC President Dana White’s plan to keep fighting amid the coronavirus pandemic.
After vowing for weeks to maintain a regular schedule while the rest of the sports world halted, White announced the decision to cease competition on ESPN, the UFC’s broadcast partner.
UFC 249 was scheduled for April 18 on ESPN Plus pay-per-view, and White planned to follow it with weekly fight cards from Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino on tribal land in California’s Central Valley.
White said he “got a call from the highest level you can go at Disney and the highest level of ESPN” asking him to cancel. The UFC moved to ESPN in 2019 with a reported $1.5 billion deal.
White’s frustration with the decision was obvious after he had repeatedly vowed to fight on amid mixed public opinion. The UFC boss still remained upbeat, vowing to be “the first sport back” after the pandemic eases.
“Our relationship and partnership with ESPN has been an incredible one,” White said. “The powers that be there asked me to stand down and not do this event next Saturday. We were ready to go, and Tachi Palace has had our back this whole time, has stood their ground and was willing to do this fight.”
White announced the cancellation shortly after U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein issued a statement urging the mixed martial arts promotion to reconsider its plan. A few hours earlier, former strawweight champion Rose Namajunas dropped out of her co-main event bout at UFC 249 after two deaths in her family related to the pandemic.
Baseball: Slugger Mark Reynolds, 36, announced his retirement. He hit 298 HRs over 13 seasons with eight teams.
Basketball: The NBA, the National Basketball Players Association and ESPN will stream a HORSE tournament on ESPN’s app. The NBA HORSE Challenge will have eight participants. The quarterfinals are to be shown Sunday and the semifinals and final on April 16. The quarterfinal matchups are Trae Young of the Hawks against former NBA player and ESPN analyst Chauncey Billups; WNBA great and 2020 Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Tamika Catchings against Mike Conley Jr. of the Jazz; Zach LaVine of the Bulls against NBA retiree and ESPN analyst Paul Pierce; and Chris Paul of the Thunder against Allie Quigley of the WNBA’s Sky. Players must call their shots before the attempt and dunking is not allowed. The players will be isolated and competing on separate home courts. State Farm will offer a prize pool exceeding $200,000 to charities working on the coronavirus response. The event will be pre-taped.
NFL: The Rams will trade WR Brandin Cooks to the Texans, ESPN reported. The Texans will send a second-round draft pick to the Rams in exchange for Cooks, 26, and a future pick.
NHL: Oilers forward Colby Cave remains in a medically induced coma in a Toronto hospital after suffering a brain bleed earlier in the week. The Oilers, through Cave’s family, provided an update on Cave’s status on their Twitter account. The 25-year-old native of Battleford, Saskatchewan, was airlifted Tuesday to Sunnybrook Hospital and underwent emergency surgery. Doctors removed a colloid cyst that was causing pressure on his brain. Cave scored one goal in 11 games this season.