Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

UFC president Dana White was resolute in the fact that his organization would be the first major professional sports league in the United States and Canada to return from the coronavirus shutdown. White has accomplished that as a rescheduled UFC 249 this Saturday from Jacksonville, Florida, ends an eight-week hiatus for the company. There will be no fans in attendance from VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, and likely no fans at any sporting event in the near future.

This card is so stacked that there are two among the prelims that would normally be on the main card: a welterweight matchup between Anthony Pettis (22-10) and Donald Cerrone (36-14), and a heavyweight bout between Aleksei Oleinik (58-13-1) and Fabricio Werdum (23-8-1).

Pettis, a former lightweight champion is a -145 favorite over Cerrone (+115). They fought way back in January 2013 at UFC on Fox 6 and Pettis won by first-round knockout (kick to the body). Pettis won the UFC lightweight title in his next outing when he submitted Benson Henderson and defended it once successfully before losing to Rafael dos Anjos. Counting that fight, Pettis has gone 4-8 in his past 12.