Report: Rose Namajunas Drops Out of UFC 249 Fight vs. Jessica Andrade

Former UFC strawweight champion Rose Namajunas has pulled out of her co-main event bout against Jessica Andrade, which was scheduled for UFC 249 on April 18, according to ESPN's Marc Raimondi and Ariel Helwani. No reason was given for Namajunas' decision.

UFC 249 will take place in an undisclosed location with no fans in attendance, though the New York Times reports the event will take place on tribal land somewhere in central California, according to a report from Kevin Draper. No replacement has been announced in Namajunas' absence.

Earlier in the week, UFC announced Justin Gaethje as the replacement for lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov, who says he is unable to leave Russia amid the coronavirus pandemic. Gaethje will take on Tony Ferguson for the interim lightweight title.

UFC president Dana White remains committed to hosting events while the rest of the sports world remains on hold. On Monday, he revealed his plan to purchase a private island to host fights while the coronavirus crisis persists.

"I'm a day or two away from securing a private island," White said Monday in an interview with TMZ Sports. "We're getting the infrastructure put in place now. ...So as of April 18, the UFC is back up and running."

Other scheduled bouts for UFC 249 include Greg Hardy vs. Yorgan De Castro, Vicente Luque vs. Niko Price, Calvin Kattar vs. Jeremy Stephens and Francis Ngannou vs. Jair Rozenstruik. 

There are more than 1.5 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus globally, according to CNN, with at least 87,000 deaths.