UFC 249 officially has its new main event, as the promotion announced Monday that Tony Ferguson will square off against Justin Gaethje for the interim lightweight championship.
“The fight is signed and is 100 [percent] on live ESPN somewhere on Earth,” UFC president Dana White wrote on social media.
According to ESPN, the Las Vegas-based organization is close to finalizing a venue on the West Coast of the United States. Ferguson was initially slated to face Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 249, but the reigning lightweight champion remains stranded in Russia due to travel restrictions imposed to limit the spread of the coronavirus.