UFC Prez Dana White Will Not Be Denied: ‘Fights Will Go On’ During COVID-19 Virus Crisis
By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
UFC President Dana White knows only one way: To put on fights.
That’s why he is looking for new sites to stage fight nights and UFC 249 that were scrubbed from their venues because of the coronavirus threat.
“As of now, the fights can’t happen at the APEX here in Las Vegas,” White told ESPN Saturday night. “We’re working to find new locations. The fights will go on. We’re not stopping. We’re going to find a way to put on the fights.”
A UFC fight event in London was scheduled for next weekend. Two UFC Fight Nights at UFC’s APEX building in Las Vegas was set for March 28 and April 11. And a much-publicized UFC 249 at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center headlined by unbeaten (28-0) Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Tony Ferguson is scheduled for April 18. White said he needs new locations because of government decisions in those venue settings on staging sports events because of the coronavirus pandemic threat.
“I’m in the fight business. I’ve been doing this for over 20 years. And this stuff happens to me every weekend. So, I’m used to this stuff, not at this level obviously,” White told ESPN. “But this is what we do. And we always make sure the fights happen — and continue to happen.”
UFC was hoping to use its new APEX facility, which is nearly next-door to UFC’s headquarters off the 215 beltway in the southwest Las Vegas Valley, as the venue for fight shows that were originally scheduled in Ohio and Oregon.
But the Nevada State Athletic Commission said it will decide March 25 on the situation of combat sports events scheduled for after that. But White believes the APEX fight nights are off.
“The fights can’t happen at the APEX,,” White said.
UFC had a fight night event in Brazil without fans in the venue today.
White said unless the federal government shuts down all activities and requires quarantines, he will try and find new locations for the UFC fight show events.
Other sports like the NHL, NBA, MLS, MLB, PGA and NCAA March Madness have cancelled, postponed or suspended their sports events.
Cassandra Cousineau, who reports on combat sports for LVSportsBiz.com, offered these takes on social media:
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