Dana White Says UFC Targeting May 9 for Next Card, Location Not Yet Determined

UFC president Dana White said he is planning to hold the sport's next event on May 9 but has not yet determined the location.  

Brett Okamoto of ESPN reported the news Tuesday, noting White "remains adamant the company will get back on schedule, and barring outside factors, intends to hold a card" on that date.

Okamoto also noted Anthony Pettis would fight Donald Cerrone in a welterweight matchup on May 9 if the card does happen, reported Tony Ferguson agreed to fight Justin Gaethje on the date and provided a list of other potential matchups:

This is the latest in a series of headlines regarding UFC's efforts to return to action during the coronavirus pandemic.

On April 9, UFC announced "while the organization was fully prepared to proceed with UFC 249, ESPN has requested the postponement of the event and subsequent bouts until further notice in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. UFC looks forward to resuming the full live events schedule as soon as possible."

White told Okamoto that higher-ups at Disney and ESPN called him and asked him to "stand down" and not hold UFC 249 on April 18.

The location of that card and others was also in question with a number of lockdowns and social-distancing measures in place in various states across the country, and Kevin Draper of the New York Times reported there were plans to hold UFC 249 on land belonging to the Tachi-Yokut Tribe, part of the federally recognized Santa Rosa Indian Community.

The idea of holding the event on such land in California was seen as "an attempted end run around widespread federal and state guidelines against holding large gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic."

White also told Marc Raimondi of ESPN he "secured an island" that would hold fights.

Alas, UFC 249 did not occur, and the sport is on hiatus like many others across the landscape. But White is apparently targeting early May for a return date.