UFC 249 results: Justin Gaethje stuns Tony Ferguson, Henry Cejudo retires, undercard reaction
Gaethje stopped Ferguson in the fifth to set up a title shot against Khabib Nurmagomedov
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Your support makes all the difference.Justin Gaethje put on a striking masterclass to score a surprise knockout victory over Tony Ferguson and win the interim lightweight title at UFC 249, which took place at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida on Saturday.
Ferguson, who came into the fight on a 12-win streak, suffered damage as Gaethje chopped at his legs and landed thunderous hooks before referee Herb Dean stepped in to end the fight late in the fifth round.
With over 80,000 deaths in the United States due to COVID-19, the UFC has come under fire for putting on the event, which took place with no fans in the stands and with stringent health and safety protocols in place.
Despite the absence of a crowd, the fights themselves lacked nothing in intensity, with Francis Ngannou scoring the knockout of the night, blitzing Jairzinho Rozenstruik with a left hook to force a stoppage after just 20 seconds of the first round.
Sam Alvey was the first fighter into the empty arena on the night, pointing and high-fiving the imaginary crowd as he made his way to the cage where he fell to a decision loss to Ryan Spann in the evening's opening fight on the prelim card.
Apart from the fighters, the referees and the commentators, event staff wore face masks and only one corner-man per fighter was allowed into the cage in the breaks between rounds.
"It was funny, I could hear a lot. Everybody out there I could hear really clearly, but at the same time ... it wasn't much different than if the crowd were there," Vicente Luque told reporters following his stoppage win over Niko Price.
Such was the silence that Luque was able to hear the commentators, and heavyweight Greg Hardy said he was able to take the advice of TV commentator Daniel Cormier to counter Yorgan De Castro's leg kicks en route to a decision victory.
In the co-main event, Henry Cejudo retained his bantamweight belt with a second-round stoppage win over Dominick Cruz before immediately retiring in the octagon. The 33-year-old, who won a gold medal for wrestling at the 2008 Olympics, has said he was happy with his career and that he wanted to start a family.
Returning after a long layoff, former champ Cruz was dropped with a knee to the head and suffered the first knockout of his career with just two seconds left in the second round.
However, the biggest prize of the night went to Gaethje, who is now next in line to face Khabib Nurmagomedov for the undisputed lightweight crown.
"I'll wait for the real one," Gaethje said as he tossed the interim belt aside moments after it was put around his waist. Reuters
Relive all of the live action below:
Next UFC event: UFC Fight Night Smith vs Teixeira on Wednesday 13 May.
There's going to be an awful lot of debate around that stoppage. It's borderline, in my opinion. Cejudo was landing blow after blow but Cruz was just starting to show some signs of getting back to his feet...
Cejudo: "He tried to study and train for me. But I'm an athlete. I stuck to the gameplan and that's all she wrote.
"I'm ruthless. I may be cringey and corny, but boy can I fight. I'm the greatest combat sports athlete of all time. Nobody has my resume. I've defended my flyweight title. I've defended my bantamweight title. And I'm an Olympic champion.
"I'm happy with my career. I've done enough in the sport, I want to walk away, I want to enjoy myself. ... Since I was 11 years old I sacrificed my whole life to get where I'm at today, I'm not gonna let nobody take that from me.
Cruz: "I'm not happy with the stoppage. I asked the referee to let me go until I was out and I was working my way back up.
"I was aware of what was going on. I get that there were unanswered shots but I was getting back to my feet. But hats off, I shouldn't have got caught by that shot.
"The ref should have given me a shot. This is for the world title. This isn't a backyard fight.
"I'm not sure about the future. I wanted to finish this fight. I've never been knocked out and I don't feel like I was tonight."
Wow. A bombshell revelation from Henry Cejudo, who appears to have retired from the sport, age 33. If he truly does walk away then he will walk away as one of the all-time greats.
Time for the main event of the evening! An interim title fight between No. 1 ranked Tony Ferguson and No. 4 ranked Justin Gaethje.
Gaethje is, of course, a rather late replacement for undefeated lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, but he's not here only to make up the numbers.
“I said I wanted to fight Tony because I know we’re both special people when it comes to being able to be comfortable when adrenalin is coursing through your veins,” Gaethje said ahead of tonight's fight.
“The feeling of being in a life or death situation and being able to be comfortable, there’s nothing like it. I know that he is the same way. One of us is probably going to get two bonuses, we’re both getting one bonus and I fight for money.
“At the time when I said that, I was shooting to be the most exciting fighter in the world. Tony is the best opponent to bring that out of me.”
Ferguson is so fun to watch. He is riding an 11-fight win streak and Donald Cerrone last time out.
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