The location of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s UFC 249 has finally been revealed.
UFC 249 will be held at the Tachi Palace Casino Resort in Lemoore, Calif., which is situated on Tribal Land and can be held because the event does not have to be sanctioned by the state government’s stay-at-home executive order due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to The New York Times.
The location of the UFC 249 pay-per-view event was initially reported by Jeff Sherwood, the founder of Sherdog.com, on Twitter — he stated the next four events run by the company will be held at the Tachi Palace — and later confirmed by the New York Times. The UFC, which had postponed three events over the last few weeks, did not publicly confirm the reports.
Holding UFC events at the Tachi Palace Casino Resort allows the company to run fights without the sanction of the California State Athletic Commission, which told the Times it would not approve any part of the fight card. All mixed martial arts bouts throughout the state had been canceled through May 31.
“The commission echoes the guidance of California Governor Gavin Newsom, the Department of Public Health, local health officials, and the recommendations of the Association of Ringside Physicians regarding the cancellation of events where people may be at risk of contracting Covid-19 and encourages the industry to do the same,” the California athletic commission said in a statement. “The commission will not participate in the U.F.C. event on April 18, regardless of the event location.”
UFC 249 will run 12 bouts headlined by the interim lightweight championship match featuring Justin Gaethje taking on Tony Ferguson. Khabib Nurmagomedov was originally scheduled to defend the lightweight title against Ferguson in the main event, but the fighter can’t travel from his native Russia due to the country’s travel restrictions because of the coronavirus.
UFC president Dana White had told TMZ Monday night that UFC 249 was going to take place as originally scheduled on April 18 and a private island would be secured to hold the event. The island, which he did not name, would hold the next four UFC events and would be able to safely host fighters from the United States and bring in others who can’t enter the country because of travel restrictions.
White insisted the location would be safe, with fighters, referees and other people involved in the event being tested to make sure the events would go on as planned. The Tachi Palace Casino Resort, despite closing on March 20 because of the coronavirus pandemic, has hosted mixed martial arts and boxing matches in the past.