UFC 249 LIVE: Follow the action with RT Sport's rolling updates as the UFC returns to action in Jacksonville (VIDEO)

10 May 2020

AND NEW!

Justin Gaethje just produced the best performance of his MMA career to stop Tony Ferguson after five largely dominant rounds in the main event.

Ferguson's unorthodox approach may have proved tricky against a previous version of Gaethje, but this new-look version looked outstanding. 

Gone was the gung-ho approach, replaced by a considered, cerebral approach that saw him stop Ferguson after five brilliant rounds to capture the interim UFC lightweight title.

TONY FERGUSON VS. JUSTIN GAETHJE

It's time for our main event, and what a fight this could turn out to be.

Tony Ferguson is riding a 12-fight win streak, the longest run in the lightweight division, shared with Khabib Nurmagomedov. 

Gaethje is the most exciting lightweight fighter on the planet.

This should deliver fireworks. Here's our preview:

"TRIPLE C" WINS, THEN RETIRES!

Henry Cejudo put on a superb performance to stop Dominick Cruz with two seconds remaining in the first round of their bantamweight title fight, then surprised everyone by announcing his RETIREMENT from the sport.

"I'm retiring tonight," he told commentator Joe Rogan.

"I'm 33 years old, I'm happy with my career. Uncle Dana, I want say thank you for everything, you're the man. Everybody here, thank you so much. Triple C's out, you guys don't have to hear my ass no more."

HENRY CEJUDO VS. DOMINICK CRUZ

It's time for our first title fight of the night as UFC bantamweight champ Henry Cejudo puts his 135-pound title on the line against former two-time champion Dominick Cruz, who is coming back after three and a half years away from the cage.

BOOM! GONE IN 20 SECONDS!

Francis Ngannou allowed Jairzinho Rozenstruik to land one leg kick, then decided enough was enough and he let fly with a vicious salvo of hooks that left Rozenstruik sat down against the fence, totally unconscious.

That was scary, scary stuff, and it took just 20 seconds.

FRANCIS NGANNOU VS. JAIRZINHO ROZENSTRUIK

The two heaviest hitters in the UFC heavyweight division are about to throw down inside the octagon in our final non-title fight of the night at UFC 249.

Undefeated Jairzinho Rozenstruik has been wrecking UFC heavyweights since his arrival in the promotion, but now he faces the toughest test of his career against a fired-up and powerful Francis Ngannou, who has the hardest recorded punch in history.

It's a fight that will surely end up with someone getting knocked out, but who'll be celebrating and who'll be waking up staring at the arena lights?

Here's our preview:

After Jeremy Stephens started out in typically aggressive fashion, Calvin Kattar started to warm up his hands and, after putting together some impressive boxing combinations, stepped in with a MASSIVE elbow to the chin that sent Stephens crashing to the canvas. 

A few additional strikes, including a nasty elbow, sealed the win for Kattar, who left Stephens with an ugly gash on his forehead.

JEREMY STEPHENS VS. CALVIN KATTAR

Featherweights will fly in our next matchup, as 145-pound wreckers Jeremy Stephens and Calvin Kattar go head to head looking to catapult themselves towards a top contender fight later this year.

Here's our fight preview:

Yorgan De Castro started the better, but Greg Hardy came back strongly to win all three rounds on all three scorecards to claim the win and hand De Castro the first loss of his career.

De Castro looked good early on as he connected with some punishing leg kicks and followed up with some heavy punches. But Hardy weathered the early storm to outwork the Cape Verde heavyweight to earn scores of 30-27 on all three scorecards.

After the fight, Hardy revealed that he heard former two-division UFC champion Daniel Cormier's commentary about Hardy not checking De Castro's leg kicks, and acted on those words by checking kicks from that moment on. It proved to be useful, if unintentional, advice.

GREG HARDY VS. YORGAN DE CASTRO

We're into the pay-per-view main card at UFC 249, with five more top-class fights to round out the night in Jacksonville.

And expect the action to get even more explosive as the heaviest matchup on the card kicks things off on pay-per-view.

Heavyweight sluggers Greg Hardy and Yorgan De Castro love nothing better than to knock their opponents into unconsciousness, and they'll go head to head looking to make a statement and press their claim as the next big thing in the UFC's heavyweight division.

Here's our RT Sport fight preview:

That was the fight of the night so far!

Anthony Pettis and Donald Cerrone delivered everything we hoped for as they battled back and forth for three superb rounds. 

The judges all scored it 29-28 to Pettis, who seemed as surprised as Cerrone was disappointed. But, as "Showtime" grinned after the fight, "I'll take it!"

ANTHONY PETTIS VS. DONALD CERRONE

This one should be an absolute belter. Both "Showtime" Pettis and "Cowboy" Cerrone are renowned crowd pleasers. And even though the crowd will be at home instead of in the stands, you can bet they'll both be hell-bent on producing more fireworks here tonight.

The two met before, with Pettis handing Cerrone the first knockout loss of his career via a vicious body kick KO. Will Cerrone get his revenge, or will Pettis double down?

Here's a quick look ahead at the featured preliminary card bout: 

The fight goes the distance, and Oleynik gets the nod on the judges' scorecards, thanks - to much surprise - to his striking.

Oleynik's decision to stand and bang in Rounds 1 and 2 proved decisive as he had the rounds in the bank on two of the judges' scorecards when Werdum mounted a third-round comeback.

The judges scored it 28-29, 29-28, 29-28 for "The Boa Constrictor," who scored arguably the biggest win of his UFC career.

ALEXEY OLEYNIK VS. FABRICIO WERDUM

Two heavyweights who love to submit their opponents are up next, as Russia's "Boa Constrictor" Alexey Oleynik takes on former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum.

Here's a pre-fight primer:

The scorecards were all over the place, but it was Carla Esparza who got the split-decision nod as she took the win 27-30, 29-28, 30-27 against a clearly shocked Michelle Waterson.

But, "The Karate Hottie" as as classy as they come, and she bit her lip and congratulated Esparza on her win before heading off to the locker room to wonder what the hell happened.

MICHELLE WATERSON VS. CARLA ESPARZA

Up next, we have a pivotal bout in the women's strawweight division as the inaugural 115-pound UFC champ "The Cookie Monster" Carla Esparza takes on "The Karate Hottie" Michelle Waterson.

Here's a breakdown of what to expect.

WHAT A FIGHT!

Vicente Luque and Niko Price served up a back-and-forth war for three rounds, but it didn't quite make it all the way to the scorecards.

That's because a colossal left hook from Luque dropped Price and left him with a closed right eye. 

Referee Jason Herzog called in the doctor, who seemed unsure whether the fight should be stopped, but Herzog could see for himself that Price was in no state continue and waved off the bout to give Luque the third-round stoppage win.

VICENTE LUQUE VS. NIKO PRICE

If the last fight was a wild grappling matchup, expect more wildness here, but in the stand-up.

Both Vicente Luque and Niko Price love to stand and bang, but Luque holds a submission win over Price from earlier in their careers.

Will Luque make it a win-double over "The Hybrid" or will Price exact his revenge in tonight's rematch?

However it pans out, expect fireworks.

09 May 2020

Total dominance from Bryce Mitchell as he bossed Charles Rosa from start to finish as the fight went all the way to the scorecards. 

The scores tell the story. 30-25, 30-25, 30-24.

Wins don't get much more dominant than that.

BRYCE MITCHELL VS. CHARLES ROSA

Featherweight submission specialists are up next, as Bryce "Thug Nasty" Mitchell takes on Charles "Boston Strong" Rosa in a battle between two men with 17 submission finishes between them.

Both men have 12 career victories, and both men know how to finish their opponents. Mitchell is the rising prospect, but Rosa is the more established fighter, and comes from the famed American Top Team. He also has a BJJ black belt, compared to Mitchell's brown belt.

But whose skills will prevail here?

It's great to have Joe Rogan doing the post-fight interviews once again...

RYAN SPANN TAKES THE VICTORY

It was a split decision in the end but, despite a tricky final round, Spann got the nod with scores of 29-28, 29-28, 28-29.

In his post-fight interview he graded himself a C+. But a win's a win, and we're off and underway!

Our first fight goes the distance, and after a slow start, it turned into a wild scrap in the final moments when Alvey badly rocked Spann, who looked to be ahead on our unofficial scorecard heading into the third and final round. It means the result is on a knife edge as we wait for the judges' verdict.

WE'RE JUST MOMENTS AWAY...

Our first pair of fighters is about to head to the octagon for the first fight of the COVID-era UFC schedule.

It's a light-heavyweight bout, with heavy-handed "Smile'n" Sam Alvey set to take on Ryan "Superman" Spann.

FIGHT CARD

We have an absolute banger of a fight card in store tonight, with 10 superb matchups set to grace the octagon at UFC 249. Here's the full bout list:

MAIN CARD

• Tony Ferguson vs. Justin Gaethje (interim lightweight title)
• Henry Cejudo (c) vs. Dominick Cruz (bantamweight title)
• Francis Ngannou vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
• Jeremy Stephens vs. Calvin Kattar
• Greg Hardy vs. Yorgan de Castro

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Anthony Pettis vs. Donald Cerrone
• Alexsei Oleynik vs. Fabricio Werdum
• Carla Esparza vs. Michelle Waterson
• Vicente Luque vs. Niko Price

EARLY PRELIMS

• Bryce Mitchell vs. Charles Rosa
• Ryan Spann vs. Sam Alvey

IT'S FIGHT NIGHT!

Welcome to RT Sport's coverage of UFC 249. It's been a while since we've had live fights, but we're back tonight, and boy has the UFC stacked the deck.

The fight card is jam-packed with great matchups from top to tail and by the time we're all done here, we're sure to have some spectacular moments to look back on.