De Castro fears he'll wake up to news of UFC 249 cancellation

In the back of his mind, Yorgan De Castro can't help but wonder if UFC 249 will get canceled again.

The UFC heavyweight is scheduled to meet former NFL player Greg Hardy at the May 9 pay-per-view card in Jacksonville. The bout was one of several originally slated for UFC 249 on April 18 before the event was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

With the Florida State Boxing Commission agreeing to sanction the May 9 event, which will take place behind closed doors at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, De Castro is more optimistic than last time that the UFC will succeed in holding a show during the COVID-19 crisis - but he still has some doubts.

"I'm waiting for when we're gonna wake up and they gonna say the fight is canceled," De Castro told theScore earlier this week.

The 33-year-old at least remains hopeful after receiving a good amount of communication from the UFC in recent weeks about the logistics of the event and what safety precautions will be taken.

"This time, I'm definitely more confident - I would say 99% because everybody's on board," De Castro said, referring to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis deeming pro sporting events as essential services in the state.

"I do believe this time it's gonna happen. We already scheduled the plane tickets. Last time, we didn't have a flight until the last minute. This time, everything has been scheduled since last week."

After the initial UFC 249 postponement and the indefinite suspension of events last month, De Castro didn't expect to move forward so quickly.

"I didn't think we would fight anytime soon," he said. "(UFC president Dana White) said he would take a couple days to sleep and rest, and that everything was canceled. I didn't think we'd be fighting anytime soon. That caught me by surprise."

De Castro added that the uncertainty hasn't impacted his training schedule, as he's been working out twice a day.

"We gotta train like we're fighting, because if I don't train like I'm gonna fight, and the fight actually happens, I'm gonna regret it," he said. "I'm training like I'm fighting May 9."

While De Castro is "definitely concerned" about competing during the COVID-19 pandemic, he believes it's necessary in order to provide for his family.

"If they can do it safely," he said, "I'm honored to be part of it."