Disney, ESPN pull plug on UFC 249

The event was scheduled for April 18 at Central Valley location

UFC 249 was canceled Thursday after ESPN and parent company Disney stopped UFC president Dana White’s plan to keep fighting amid the coronavirus pandemic.

After defiantly vowing for weeks to maintain a regular schedule of fights while the rest of the sports world halted, White confirmed the decision to cease competition in a text to The Associated Press.

UFC 249 was scheduled for April 18 on ESPN Plus pay-per-view, and White planned to follow it with regular fight cards from Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino on tribal land in California’s Central Valley.

In an interview on ESPN, 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 shows. The UFC moved to ESPN in 2019 with a reported $1.5 billion deal.

While the UFC won’t have fights in the upcoming weeks, White said he is still pursuing his plan to build an octagon and everything else necessary to telecast small fight shows on an unidentified private island. White had planned to use the socalled “Fight Island” in upcoming months for non-American fighters who couldn’t get into the U.S. White’s frustration with Disney’s decision was obvious after he had repeatedly vowed to fight on amid mixed public opinion. He has described the past month of preparation for UFC 249 as the most challenging part of his fight promotion career, which began as the UFC’s president in 2001.

The UFC boss still remained upbeat, vowing to be “the first sport back” after the pandemic eases.

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.

The other co-main event was to pit Tony Ferguson (25-3-0) against Justin Gaethje (21-2-0) in a battle for the interim lightweight championship.

JOHN LOCHER — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS UFC president Dana White stands between fighters Tony Ferguson, right, and Khabib Nurmagomedov during a news conference for UFC 209 on March 2, in Las Vegas.