Dana White may get his wish in the US

After many plans failed, Florida may have opened the door for the UFC.
Besides his fight island, Dana White now has a possible viable backup plan.

ANALYST

Feature

Modified 15 Apr 2020, 06:27 IST

MMA fans and UFC fans, in particular, may just have to wait a little longer for the return of the sport they are craving.

The "gold standard" in mixed martial arts has the date of May 9th tentatively circled on the calendars at the Vegas Headquarters. Although they have yet to officially make that statement publicly. That's probably the case for two reasons. One is that things can get drastically worse in the world, and two, they probably don't want to get burned again. Two possible fights to lead the card are Ferguson vs Gaethje and Dominick Cruz vs Cejudo.

They would have been in Brazil for UFC 250 that night but now looks like a card may happen Stateside. As much as California politicians have drawn a hard line in the sand to try and defeat the coronavirus, that's not the case in every state. Ron DeSantis; the Republican Governor of Florida for one has taken a less stringent approach with containment such as leaving beaches open for a while before his stay-at-home order.

Ron recently announced that "employees at a professional sports and media production with a national audience are an essential service in the state". Which in essence reversed his original stay-at-home order for those in entertainment and sports. But the location must be closed to the public. In that executive order was the go-ahead for Vince McMahon to put on WWE cards at their Florida-based facility. It also opens the possibility that the UFC could do closed events in the state as well.

That, however, remains highly short-sighted as the same issues for the left coast apply here. The resources used, if any extra safety precautions would draw from an already over-exhausted supply. While yes it's good that fans won't be there; the staff, crew, athletes, etc all remain in danger and in turn can spread things further once returning home. That common sense seems to be overlooked by some.

Rumors have been all over the place on the location of Dana's Island. There have been assumptions that the island could be owned by the likes of Tony Robbins, Eddie Murphy, and some other high rollers that are close to the UFC President. But none of which have been confirmed. That has made creative MMA some hilarious memes on social media. From taking fighters onto the island with their heads covered to saying what if it was just actually Hawaii after saying it would be too expensive to go there, to all points in between.

But as far as the Sunshine State goes; The Florida State Boxing Commission has yet to give the okay for combat sports to return in the state. And that is a big hurdle that needs to be cleared 1st. So if the defiant Dana White's "Fight Island" isn't yet ready, this looks like a possible option for the company. All while the four major sports, other MMA organizations, horse racing, golf, boxing, tennis, and others decide to wait on the sidelines till the coast is clear rather than continue a possible outbreak.

If somehow this happens, besides it becoming political; which it most definitely will. The flood gates will open to the plethora of backlogged fights

Published 15 Apr 2020, 06:27 IST