UFC Rumors: Latest Buzz on Potential May 9 Card, Dana White's Call with Fighters

Dana White continues to push forward with his plan to host a full fight card on May 9. 

The UFC president has yet to officially announce a location or any details about the matchups, but there have already been strong indications about some of the company's top fighters lining up for the event. 

As White works through the details, he's holding a series of fighter-only teleconferences to update athletes about events for the rest of the year, including question-and-answer sessions for everyone on the call. 

According to ESPN's Brett Okamoto, he is determined to repurpose the date of UFC 250 into a marquee return to the Octagon for his sport:

"The UFC's next pay-per-view event is UFC 250, originally scheduled to take place on May 9 in Sao Paulo. That event will no longer happen in Brazil, but White told ESPN that is the date his promotion has targeted for a return—and he already has the potential card built out.

"Some of the targeted fights include an interim lightweight title fight between Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje, a bantamweight title fight between Henry Cejudo and Dominick Cruz, who has publicly accepted the bout, and a featherweight title fight between Amanda Nunes and Felicia Spencer, both of whom have publicly accepted."

Here's the projected fight card for May 9, per Okamoto:

• Ferguson vs. Gaethje

• Henry Cejudo vs. Dominick Cruz

• Amanda Nunes vs. Felicia Spencer

• Francis Ngannou vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik

• Jeremy Stephens vs. Calvin Kattar

• Donald Cerrone vs. Anthony Pettis

• Greg Hardy vs. Yorgan de Castro

• Aleksei Oleinik vs. Fabricio Werdum

• Carla Esparza vs. Michelle Waterson

• Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza vs. Uriah Hall

• Vicente Luque vs. Niko Price

• Charles Rosa vs. Bryce Mitchell

On Tuesday, the UFC boss was named to U.S. President Donald Trump's panel on restarting the economy along with a number of professional sports commissioners. Trump has further indicated he would like to see sports return sooner than later. 

If it were up to White, UFC wouldn't have gone on hiatus at all. After securing the Tachi Palace Casino Resort to host UFC 249, the company's broadcast partner, ESPN, strongly encouraged him to postpone the event because of health concerns amid the coronavirus pandemic. That seemingly forced the UFC chief to relent—but only for a short while.

While White says he remains focused on securing a private island to host fights away from the public, that has yet to come to fruition. 

All of this remains speculative, regardless of how strong the speculation may be. Until fight contracts are signed and a location is announced, there will be plenty of skepticism for a May 9 event, even if there's a strong desire by all parties to get it done.