White, who aimed to hold fights during the coronavirus pandemic, said the card would not be held April 18, as planned.

White said the decision was made after the company received a call from the higher-ups at Disney and ESPN, the UFC’s broadcast partners.

UFC President Dana White spoke to Brett Okamoto about #UFC249 no longer taking place on April 18.

“So I told you this thing has been a battle since day one. We’ve been fighting non-stop all day and all night since this pandemic started to put on this event on April 18. And today we got a call from the highest level you can go at Disney and the highest level of ESPN,” White said. “And one thing that I’ve said since we started our relationship and partnership with ESPN is that’s been an incredible one. It’s been an amazing partnership, ESPN has been very, very good to us and the powers that be there asked me to stand down and not do this event next Saturday.”