UFC 249 went down tonight (Sat. May 9, 2020) from Jacksonville, Florida at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena and we have the results. The world’s leading mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion compiled an excellent card for fight fans to enjoy.
It was headlined by a meeting between Tony Ferguson vs. Justin Gaethje to determine who would be crowned as the interim UFC lightweight champion.
The co-headliner saw Henry Cejudo vs. Dominick Cruz for the UFC bantamweight title.
Also slated for the five bout main card was Francis Ngannou vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik in a heavyweight bout, Calvin Kattar vs. Jeremy Stephens in a featherweight showdown, and Yorgan De Castro vs. Greg Hardy in a heavyweight fight.
Tony Ferguson vs. Justin Gaethje
As expected, both guys came out throwing for the fences. As the round went on, Gaethje started to become very disciplined with his approach. He was more controlled with his combos. Ferguson was mixing things up with some nice inside leg kicks. Gaethje kept catching him with a nice right hook. Gaethje started to mix up his strikes with kicks to keep Ferguson at distance as Ferguson was the guy moving forward. Ferguson was eating some major league shots while throwing fire right back at Gaethje. Ferguson landed a big uppercut that dropped Gaethje as the second round ended. As the third round came about, Gaethje started to get tired and slowed down. Ferguson’s right eye was starting to swell up and had some bleeding from his left temple. Gaethje stunned him with a big right hand and tried to push forward. Ferguson managed to regroup. Gaethje hurt him again with a right hook in the fourth round but Ferguson kept coming despite having wobbly legs. Gathje backed up Ferguson with a 1-2 combo in the fifth round. Ferguson kept coming and throwing until the end, which came when Gaethje threw some more shots that dazed Ferguson and on wobbly legs was retreating. The referee came in and stopped the fight.
Henry Cejudo vs. Dominick Cruz
Cejudo was able to score a brief takedown in the middle of the first round and landed some shots but Cruz got up and attempted a takedown, which was stuffed. Cejudo was doing some damage to the left leg of Cruz, which was showing it. As usual, Cruz was moving a lot and trying to find angles. Cruz seemed a little behind and was eating some good shots thrown by the champion. In the second round, Cejudo and Cruz collided heads and busted open the forehead of Cejudo. Moments later, Cejudo caught him a knee strike to the jaw that dropped Cruz then swarmed on him with strikes to end the fight. Cruz announced after the fight that he was going to retire.
Francis Ngannou vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
Ngannou came forward right out of the gate and caught him with a left hook that dropped Rozenstruik instantly. Francis followed up with some shots but the fight was over at that point.
Calvin Kattar vs. Jeremy Stephens
In the first round, it took them a bit of time to get started but when they did, they started throwing big shots. Out of nowhere in the second round after Kattar had started to put on some good shots, Kattar landed a huge elbow strike that dropped Stephens and then followed up on some shots but that’s a wrap. Stephens was busted open badly and pouring blood.
Yorgan De Castro vs. Greg Hardy
Both guys came out swinging for the fences. De Castro was mixing up strikes and kicks. Towards the end of the first round, Hardy pressed him up against the fence and landed some good strikes. Yorgan’s leg kicks were paying off as Hardy had nasty bruises around his knees. In the second round, Hardy’s output slowed down. The commentators speculated a possible right foot injury to De Castro. Castro wasn’t doing much either but just moving around for about two minutes. The same repeated in the third round. Hardy got the decision win.
It’s certain to have a great night of fights. Check out MMA News’ UFC 249 results below:
Quick UFC 249 Results
MAIN CARD (PPV, 10 p.m. ET)
- Interim lightweight title bout: Justin Gaethje def. Tony Ferguson by TKO (strikes) at 3:39 of Round 5 to win the title.
- Bantamweight title bout: Henry Cejudo def. Dominick Cruz by TKO (strikes) at 4:58 of Round 2 to retain the UFC Bantamweight Championship
- Heavyweight bout: Francis Ngannou def. Jairzinho Rozenstruik by knockout (punches) at :20 of Round 1
- Featherweight bout: Calvin Kattar def. Jeremy Stephens by knockout (elbows) at 2:42 of Round 2
- Heavyweight bout: Greg Hardy def. Yorgan De Castro by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN 7:00 p.m. ET)
- Welterweight bout: Anthony Pettis def. Donald Cerrone by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Heavyweight bout: Aleksei Oleinik def. Fabricio Werdum by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
- Women’s strawweight bout: Carla Esparza def. Michelle Waterson by split decision (27-30, 29-28, 30-27)
- Welterweight bout: Vicente Luque def. Niko Price by TKO (doctor stoppage) at 3:37 of Round 3
- Featherweight bout: Bryce Mitchell def. Charles Rosa by unanimous decision (30-25, 30-25, 30-24)
- Light heavyweight bout: Ryan Spann def. Sam Alvey by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
