UFC 249 Scrapped, Rams Trading Cooks to Texans, UFC 249 Postponed
The Los Angeles Rams have agreed to trade wide receiver Brandin Cooks to the Houston Texans, sources told ESPN on Thursday.
The Texans will send a 2020 second-round draft pick (No. 57 overall) to the Rams for Cooks, 26, and a 2022 fourth-round pick, sources said.
The Rams acquired Cooks and a fourth-round pick from the New England Patriots before the 2018 draft in exchange for a first-round pick. The Rams then signed Cooks to a five-year, $81 million contract before the season.
UFC 249 will not proceed on April 18, despite Dana White's efforts to move forward with the pay-per-view event, the UFC president told ESPN's Brett Okamoto on Thursday.
White also said all other UFC events have been postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"Today, we got a call from the highest level you can go at Disney, and the highest level at ESPN ... and the powers that be there asked me to stand down and not do this event on Saturday," White said.
"It's been a battle since day one," White said of the card. "We've been fighting nonstop all day and all night, since this pandemic started, to put on this event on April 18.
"... Tachi Palace in California, the Indian reservation, has had our back this whole time, has stood their ground, and was willing to do this fight. And let me tell you this: When the world gets back to normal, California, that [fight] will be at Tachi Palace."
The pay-per-view event was to be headlined by an interim lightweight title fight involving Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje.
Here is the official statement:
"This event would involve dozens of individuals flying to California and driving to a casino for a purpose no one can honestly claim is essential," Feinstein said in her statement. "I understand this event is scheduled to take place on tribal land and therefore is not subject to state law. However, at best this event ties up medical resources and sends a message that shelter-in-place orders can be flouted.
"At worst, participants and support staff could carry the virus back to their home communities and increase its spread."
- Mary Montgomery, Gambling911.com
