Dana White Promises Fans To Be First When Sports Can Resume
While Dana White may not have been able to move forward with UFC 249, his new focus will be on being the first sport to resume regular operations when the sports world can resume. By now, the coronavirus pandemic has nearly shut down the world, and definitely shut down the world of sports. When White made the announcement to postpone UFC 249 with ESPN, he made it a point to let fans and fighters know he is willing to go full steam ahead.
“We will be the first sport back, and ‘Fight Island’s’ coming,” White said in his ESPN interview. “Everybody said I couldn’t do this. I can do this,” White added letting anyone who was listening that he was ready to put on an event. He added that he even had another location with “the governor and everybody behind it,” said White and added, “I can go April 18th, let’s make that clear.” However, after making clear how ready he is to move forward, ultimately it was ESPN making the call to have him wait it out.
“ESPN doesn’t want me to do it, they’re my partners, they’ve been nothing but amazing to me,” White said about the call from ESPN and added, “They want me to not go, then I will not go.” But that doesn’t mean he won’t be ready to go when things improve. “Fight Island” has an infrastructure currently being built now that is said to be ready for the end of May according to White.
He also announced that UFC staff should not worry about layoffs, nor should the fighters. “My fighters will get every fight that they’re supposed to get this year,” White said of any concerns for what could happen. As far as the fans are concerned, “I know the fans are chomping at the bit for some fights to come back and I promise them, I will be first and I will be back, very soon.”
How soon will that be?
