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UFC President Dana White has received commendations and accolades for hosting events amidst the COVID 19 pandemic. However, it seems that the promotion is not financially unaffected by the changes that the pandemic brought.
Dana White has revealed that he plans to offload up to 60 fighters by the end of the year.
Speaking to the media after UFC Vegas 16, Dana White was asked about the recent release of middleweight Yoel Romero.
Dana White stated, “We are gonna go through some serious cuts here by the end of the year. Probably 60 cuts coming up before the 1st (January) of the next year.”
Dana White further added, “And Yoel has lost 4 out of his last 5 fights, he is 44 years old.”
“Our roster is very inflated right now so you’re gonna see some big cuts coming this year. You’re gonna see a lot of names being cut in the next several weeks.”
“We just started going through the list. He (Yoel Romero) is 44 had lost 4 of his last 5 and therefore he had to go.”
ESPN journalist Ariel Helwani Tweeted that he was expecting 60-80 cuts happening in the coming weeks and months.
UFC President Dana White has made some serious cuts in the past as well, but this scale of roster trimming is unheard of.
Yoel Romero it seems, may not be the only big-name exiting the organization.
However, there will be hope for the released fighters as organizations such as Bellator, Rizin, ONE and PFL are actively hiring.
Dana White’s handling of the COVID 19 pandemic
UFC President Dana White was one of the first executives of a leading franchise to look for alternative ways of hosting events once the lockdowns were announced internationally.
His acumen and effort were respected and replicated worldwide.
Additionally, there were hardly any reports of salary cuts or layoffs before this news broke.
Many organizations such as WWE and EPL clubs had to cut down on staff to make ends meet during the pandemic.
However, it seems that the financial losses due to the lack of audience have finally gotten to the UFC.
While Dana White has not officially listed COVID as a reason for fighter cuts, one would be safe to assume it must have been a contributing factor.
