How To Watch UFC 249: Betting Odds, Schedule, Safety Precautions

JACKSONVILLE, FL — The UFC is set to become the first major sport in the United States to return to competitive action amid the new coronavirus crisis.

UFC 249 in Jacksonville, Florida, on Saturday is the culmination of a sustained attempt by the organization's President Dana White to bring back sports to television. Initially, the fight card was going to take place on an island with no COVID-19 restrictions, then it was going to take place on tribal land in California, before UFC partners ESPN and Disney nixed the idea.

Saturday's fight night will be headlined by an interim lightweight title bout between Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje.

How To Watch

Early prelims: 6 p.m. Eastern on ESPN+ and UFC Fight Pass

Prelims: 8 p.m. Eastern on ESPN+

Main card: 10 p.m. Eastern on ESPN+

Existing yearly ESPN+ subscribers can order UFC 249 for $65. New ESPN+ subscribers can buy a bundle of one UFC PPV event and an ESPN+ annual subscription for $85.

Here is the ESPN+ link for UFC 249.

Who's fighting and what are the betting odds?

Main card

• Tony Ferguson (-177) vs. Justin Gaethje (+150)
• Henry Cejudo (-210) vs. Dominick Cruz (+175)
• Francis Ngannou (-278) vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik ((+225)
• Jeremy Stephens (+206) vs. Calvin Kattar (-250)
• Greg Hardy (-200) vs. Yogan De Castro (+165)

Prelims

• Anthony Pettis (-143) vs. Donald Cerrone (+118)
• Aleksei Oleinik (+250) vs. Fabricio Werdum (-335)
• Carla Esparza (-150) vs. Michelle Waterson (+125)

Early Prelims

• Vicente Luque (-165) vs. Niko Price (+216)
• Bryce Mitchell (-162) vs. Charles Rosa (+136)
• Ryan Spann (-420) vs. Sam Alvey (+325)

The above money lines are all according to DraftKings Sportsbook, and you can find more bets, including round-by-round betting and the winning method on its website.

Safety Measures

The UFC is coming back on Saturday, but it's going to look a whole lot different from previous events.

• There will be no fans in attendance.
• Members of the broadcast team will sit at separate tables.
• All crew members will wear gloves and N95 masks.
• The winning fighter will conduct a post-fight interview outside the cage in an isolated area with a sanitized headset.
• Joe Rogan will conduct the interviews from his isolated cage side location.

"For fight fans, I think some of them maybe even prefer being able to hear corona audio a little clear because you're not combating that with 20,000 people screaming," UFC executive vice president of operation and production Craig Borsari told ESPN. "Hearing some of that instruction for a true, avid fight fan can be really interesting. It can offer some insights you wouldn't typically get."

Borsari also said the UFC has obtained enough COVID-19 tests to test everyone involved in UFC 249.