Justin Gaethje is to face Tony Ferguson at UFC 249

Justin Gaethje faces his toughest test in the promotion as he faces Tony Ferguson at UFC 249.

The American is to fight Ferguson for the interim UFC Lightweight title and was handed the call-up just a few weeks before the original event date.

That was in early April, but the fight was shifted to 9 May due to the coronavirus. That was a short space of time to get into fighting shape and Gaethje was speaking to Dan Hardy about the clash.

Hardy asked what Gaethje thought of fighting in an empty arena or with few fans. And the challenger believed it could work for him:

“As weird as it might sound, it would be a much more intimate situation.

“I think I am going to like that. I think it’s going to be like a private show, I’ve always thought about putting my services out there to the millionaires out there.

“Fight someone for you and pay me a million bucks, so similar to that.”

UFC not taking major chances

Gaethje added that the UFC provided a ton of guidelines to follow to ensure safety.

However, he added that his flight would be a public one, which wasn’t the best idea. Nevertheless, Gaethje also added that there would be a lot of testing taking place before the fight, and everyone would be provided separate rooms to train.

Dana White has always stated that the safety of all involved is important in the UFC, and hopefully, things go off without any problems in the coming days.

The UFC has two other events planned too. They take place just a few days after 249, and hopefully, no issues are brought up.

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