Justin Gaethje: Tony Ferguson to Face '18 to 19 Minutes of Pure Hell' at UFC 249

Justin Gaethje told reporters (h/t ESPN's Brett Okamoto) he plans to unleash "18 to 19 minutes of pure hell" against Tony Ferguson in their lightweight bout at UFC 249 on April 18.

Gaethje spoke more on the fight:

"When I train for a fight, I really go to a special place every single day. I do not cheat. I wake up with a goal in mind: to be better than yesterday. The more days you can do that in a row, the more prepared you will be. 

For me, it's always that mental warfare. Confidence is huge in there. If you haven't prepared, then you can't be confident—or as confident as you should be." 

Gaethje is a late replacement for UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagedov, who is out of the fight because of self-quarantine coupled with travel bans and a lack of clarity surrounding the fight's currently undisclosed location amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Ferguson enters the bout as the weight class' No. 1 contender for Khabib's belt. Gaethje is ranked fourth in the division.

Gaethje is riding a three-match winning streak, with the trio of victories all coming via first-round TKO or first-round knockout. Eighteen of his 21 professional wins have ended via knockout or TKO. He is 21-2 overall.

Ferguson, 25-3, has won 12 straight fights dating back to October 2013. Seven of his last nine bouts have ended early, with the other two via unanimous decision.

Ferguson and Gaethje have never faced each other before.

They'll help headline a 12-fight card in an unknown locale. The bout was initially scheduled to take place in New York, but that plan changed after a ban on mass gatherings due to COVID-19.

However, the location has apparently been secured, as UFC President Dana White told Okamoto:

"I'll tell you this, I'm this close to getting a deal done. So this place where this fight is going to be on April 18 I have locked up for two months, so I'm going to continue to pump fights out. I also secured an island. I've got an island. The infrastructure is being built right now. We're going to do all of our international fights on this island.

So when we do this fight April 18, international and in the United States, we're going to start cranking. The UFC will be back up and running, internationally and here in the States."

The five-fight main card also includes a bout between Jessica Andrade and Rose Namajunas in the co-main event.