UFC plans to hold 3 shows without fans in Florida.
The UFC is returning to competition on May 9 for three shows without fans in eight days in Jacksonville, Florida.
The mixed martial arts promotion announced its plans Friday to return to action after postponing and canceling several shows due to the coronavirus pandemic.
UFC 249 will be held May 9 at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville with no fans in attendance. The payper-view show will still be headlined by Tony Ferguson’s interim lightweight title bout against Justin Gaethje.
UFC President Dana White also plans to hold shows on May 13 and May 16 at the same arena in northern Florida. Only “essential personnel” will be in the arena, according to White.
The UFC has been out of action since holding a full fight card in an empty arena in Brazil on March 14. But White has been determined to return to action while the rest of the sports world remains shut down.
UFC 249 was almost held on tribal land in central California on April 18, but the show was postponed April 9 at the insistence of ESPN and Disney, the UFC’s broadcast partners. Prominent California state officials were opposed to the UFC’s plan to hold a show there. However, the promotion’s plans have satisfied Florida officials, including the Florida State Boxing Commission, which regulates MMA in the state.
BASEBALL
NATS’ RIZZO EXPECTS TO PLAY IN 2020 >> Washington Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo expects there to be a 2020 MLB season.
“I’m optimistic, as is the commissioner, that we’ll have baseball in 2020,” Rizzo said. “I’m upbeat about that. The most important thing is to do it in the right way and the safest manner we can. But I believe that we will have baseball.’’
• Steve Dalkowski, a hard-throwing, wild left-hander whose minor league career inspired the creation of Nuke LaLoosh in the movie “Bull Durham,” has died. He was 80.
He died Sunday at the Hospital of Central Connecticut in New Britain. His sister, Patricia Cain, said Friday he had several pre-existing conditions that were complicated when he became infected with the new coronavirus. Dalkowski had been in assisted living for 26 years because of alcoholic dementia.
Dalkowski never reached the major leagues but was said to have thrown well over 100 mph. Long before velocity was tracked with precision, he spawned legends that estimated he approached 110 mph or 115 mph -- some said even 125 mph.
“Fastest I ever saw,” then-retired Ted Williams said after facing Dalkowski during batting practice at spring training in 1963, according to a first-person story by director and writer Ron Shelton.
NBA
PAUL SAYS 3-4 WEEKS WILL BE NEEDED TO PREPARE FOR SEASON >> NBA players will need “at least” three or four weeks of preparation if the season is to resume, according to Chris Paul, the Oklahoma City Thunder point guard who also serves as president of the players association.
“I’m just letting you know - and I don’t think the league would do it anyway - but if they were like, ‘Hey, you got two weeks, and then we’re going,’ that’s not going to happen. Whatever the amount of time is, just know that players will have the input, the say-so, because we’re the ones playing. That comes first. We don’t ever want to put guys in a situation where their injury risk is higher than ever before.”
Paul said he hasn’t shot in a basketball gym since the layup lines prior to his team’s game against the Jazz on March 11.
• Memphis freshman Precious Achiuwa says he will enter the NBA draft.
Achiuwa announced his decision in a Twitter post on Friday. The draft is set for June 25, and the 6-foot-9, 225-pound Nigerian-born star is projected as a likely first-rounder and possible lottery pick.
Achiuwa became the first player in the American Athletic Conference named both player and freshman of the year. He averaged 15.8 points and 10.8 rebounds per game after arriving as one of the nation’s top prospects.
COLLEGES
COLORADO AD, COACHES TO TAKE PAY CUTS >> The University of Colorado announced that athletic director Rick George, new football coach Karl Dorrell, men’s basketball coach Tad Boyle and women’s basketball coach JR Payne will reduce their salaries by 10% through the upcoming fiscal year.
Head coaches in the other eight sports will reduce their pay by 5%.
• Minnesota football coach P.J. Fleck is taking an unpaid week, joining about 200 other leaders in the university system to do so in response to the budget crunch caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Fleck’s 2020 salary is $4.6 million.
• At Rutgers, football coach Greg Schiano, men’s basketball coach Steve Pikiell and women’s basketball coach C. Vivian Stringer will take 10-percent cuts over the next four months. Athletic director Pat Hobbs will take a 5-percent reduction in pay.
• Washington State football player Bryce Beekman, who was found dead in his apartment last month, died of acute intoxication, according to the Whitman County coroner.
Coroner Annie Pillers said Beekman, 22, died after consuming a combination of fentanyl and promethazine. Fentanyl is a powerful pain killer, while promethazine is commonly used to relieve allergies.
Pillers said the death was ruled accidental.