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What is keeping the UFC president Dana White busy these days at a time when the whole world is battling with the coronavirus outbreak? In White's own words, he is "dealing with bulls***."
In an Instagram Live interview he did with UFC Welterweight Champion Kamaru Usman, the UFC head honcho said those exact words in reference to how the promotion is preparing to overcome the situation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. He also took several digs at the media for criticizing his approach.
Dana White to his critics: The weakest, wimpiest people on Earth
Covid-19 has certainly taken the world by storm, leaving nearly 270,000 people affected worldwide. If California Governor Gavin Newsom's words are to be believed, roughly 56 percent of the United States population will be infected over an eight week period.
Despite such sobering news, White remains unperturbed. He persisted on making UFC events happen up until the cap on maximum heads in a gathering came down to 10.
Three back-to-back events were indefinitely postponed for the same reason, but White says with conviction that UFC will bounce back faster than everyone else when things settle down.
"Here's the reality. We will be up and running before any other sport will. Our sport's different. We have our own arena next door (the UFC Apex). So we will fulfill every fight for every fighter this year, we'll get this thing done." (H/T MMA Junkie)
White and UFC were recently under fire for going ahead with UFC Brasilia in an empty arena last week when almost all other organized sports canceled their events. But White is not someone who cares a lot about others' opinions. In fact, he had some select words to describe his critics.
"Think about this: Go online and look at some of these people – and this isn’t a knock, this is just a fact: The weakest, wimpiest people on earth cover the biggest, baddest sport on earth. What do you expect them to say? What do you think they’re gonna say?"
White also highlighted the fact that UFC did not let go of any of the 350 employees working under him at a time when most multi-million dollar companies are laying people off left, right and center. Moreover, he promised that every fighter on the UFC roster will fight three times this year and get paid as usual.
Dana White says he is taking care of his fighters
In response to MMA media's allegations that White is not concerned for his fighters' well being, the UFC chief took some well-aimed shots as well.
"Listen, the media can talk as much s*** as they want. They don’t feed families. They don’t take care of f****** people. They don’t have people that count on them. They don’t have people to support. We’re doing the right thing as far medical testing goes and everything. That’s all we f****** do. That’s nothing new. We were doing that s*** way before the coronavirus. We were taking care of people and making sure that everybody’s healthy, and every fighter that’s with me on the road is getting much better medical attention than they are at home – if they’re with me. You know what I mean?"
White also said that he has sent word out to the fighters under UFC to contact him if they need assistance of any kind in this current situation and he'll take care of their concerns.
"I told our whole roster: If you or your loved ones have any type of situations or anything wrong, call me. I’ll do everything in my power to make sure you get taken care of."
As for the fights, the next scheduled one is UFC 249, set to take place on April 18. It was originally slated for Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY, but that is no more a possibility at the moment.
However, White has repeatedly promised that the main event fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson will take place at all costs. A joke is going around in the circuit that White will make the event happen on the moon if that's what it takes.
Clearly, White is not ready to let the fight get canceled and is going all out to make it happen, no matter what it takes.
