UFC 249 fighters not concerned about competing in empty arena

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The absence of fans for UFC 249 on Saturday at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena won’t bother Donald Cerrone during his rematch with Anthony Pettis — with one exception.

His grandmother, Jerry, who helped raise Cerrone in Colorado and has become a cult figure in the MMA world, won’t make the trip because of the UFC’s tight restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“She was going to drive down here with me,” said Cerrone, who made the cross-country trek in his recreation vehicle and parked it outside the host hotel downtown. “But (UFC president Dana White) called and said he’s not going to be responsible for grandma getting sick. This is like the first fight she hasn’t come to. It’s kind of crazy and wild, but she’ll be watching, cheering and yelling at the TV.”

Cerrone won’t hear those cheers, of course, and will have to adjust to a stagnant environment that will seem especially quiet after his last fight, a massive spectacle of a headliner against global superstar Conor McGregor in a sold-out T-Mobile Arena in January.

He doesn’t see it as a problem.

“I fought in (World Extreme Cagefighting) when I first started, and there weren’t a whole lot of people there,” Cerrone said. “This will be perfect for me. No hesitations, no distractions, just go in there and fight. I came to Jacksonville to get in a backyard brawl, and here I am.”

Other fighters on the card didn’t seem concerned about the absence of fans, either.

“My mind is in a very special place right now,” said Tony Gaethje, who will meet Tony Ferguson in the main event for the interim lightweight title. “It’s like a blood sport. My favorite movie is ‘Fight Club.’ Show up, you fight.”

Ferguson agreed, pointing to his bouts on the closed set of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show as a blueprint for Saturday. Former NFL star Greg Hardy compared the situation to his appearance on “Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series.”

Featherweight Jeremy Stephens said he thinks the situation might help him. He enjoyed his late-night training sessions in an empty gym.

“I was doing my own visualization,” he said. “I was hearing my breathing and footsteps in an empty gym in the cage. I could hear my feet on the canvas. I could hear my breathing. It just clicked that it’s going to be that much easier. Hearing my coaches’ calls and not having to deal with the crowd, it will be that much clearer. I’m their favorite Mortal Kombat character, and they get to use me with no distractions.”

Some, though, weren’t sure what to think.

“I don’t know how that will be because I’ve never done it,” heavyweight Francis Ngannou said. “It might be the same as usual, but it’s one more thing to think about until it happens. Let’s see how it goes when you can hear yourself and your opponent breathing. You will hear the feet hitting the mat and the drips of sweat falling.”

His coach, Eric Nicksick, has tried to prepare Ngannou during training for the unique circumstances. Nicksick talked to several coaches who worked corners at the UFC’s last event, a March 14 card in an empty arena in Brazil.

Ngannou sparred in an empty gym with no music, a huge departure from the norm. Nicksick also plans to use code words during the fight.

“One thing I want to utilize is politicking to the judges a bit more,” he said. “As a fighter, if your opponent is not engaging the way you want and you talk trash and get vocal, that’s going to be heard. Everything can be heard. You tell your fighter, ‘Get to the center and let’s fight,’ the judges can hear that you want to initiate, that you want to dictate the action. That matters more now. That’s something I picked up from that last card.”

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.