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Dana White has spoken on several platforms regarding the status of UFC 249 in the middle of the Coronavirus restrictions - and in every single one of them, he has said with confidence that it will definitely happen.
In yet another recent interview with Mike Tyson, the UFC president once again affirmed the same, but he also shared the obstacles he is having to overcome to make it happen.
Dana White shares further details about UFC 249
UFC faced significant heat after they went ahead with UFC Brasilia in an empty stadium when most of the world was canceling sporting events and other large gatherings. They had plans to go on with their upcoming events as well, but their hands were forced by stricter rules and three consecutive UFC cards were postponed indefinitely.
But White has gone all out to make UFC 249 happen at all cost, even after it was forced out of its original venue at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. A new venue for the fight is yet to be confirmed by UFC, but White said in the chat that he has multiple options in his hand right now.
"I have four or five locations right now and we’re getting this deal done. And then we’re going to figure out who we can get in, who we can’t, what we can do and we’re going to build a card around it."
However, the UFC chief admitted to having a hard time planning the event as things keep falling apart amidst the current uncertainty.
"I’m gonna try and pull off Tony vs. Khabib on April 18 and try to get some normalcy back in this country. Every day that I work on this thing, I get another curve ball thrown at me. Every time we plan something, it falls apart — I have to re-do it, re-do it."
White is not afraid of the virus
The UFC president has received a lot of criticism for insisting on making the fights happen as the rest of the world tries to battle the deadly virus. But White has not been silent about his critics either. He believes while a certain level of precaution is necessary, there is no need for everything to shut down indefinitely - or at least he will not be doing that.
"Everybody’s running and hiding. I’m one of those guys that would rather get out there and find solutions. How do we figure this out? How do we beat this thing? Listen, if you’re somebody that’s a high risk, you should probably stay away and stay quarantined for a while. What happens when flu season comes again next year? What happens then?"
White blames the mainstream media for blowing things out of proportion, leading to more fear about the pandemic among the mass than what is necessary.
"I think that the media has made this thing scary. People are buying all of the toilet paper there is. If you just look at a lot of things that are going on, it’s wacky and totally driven by fear. It’s very weird."
H/t to MMA Fighting for the quotes.
