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UFC President Dana White is keen on staging an event in Hawaii and if he is successful in doing so, he is looking forward to having Featherweight Champion Max Holloway lead the card.
When White attended Trinity Sport Combat’s event, ‘Trinity Kings 8’ last weekend in Hawaii, he was not only scouting for local talent, but was probably also looking for an opportunity to make the event happen. In fact, he was accompanied by Holloway himself by the cage while witnessing the main card fight between Troy Lamson and Alex Munoz, who also happens to be a former Contender Series fighter. They were joined by Urijah Faber as well.
Afterwards, White spoke to KHON2 about holding a UFC event in the island state.
Dana White on bringing UFC to Hawaii
White was clearly very excited about returning to Hawaii, which he said was a throwback for him to the early days of owning UFC.
“Back in the day, in 2001-2003, when we first bought the UFC, I used to come out here every month and go to fights. There’s so many fights out here that wasn’t legalized in a lot of places. It’s good to be back in Hawaii. I love this place and obviously taking in another fight at the famous Blaisdell.”
As for the possibility of a fight in Hawaii, White was very clear about both his and Holloway’s willingness for the event. However, he put the ball in Hawaii Tourism Authority’s court when it comes to actually making it happen.
“Max wants it bad. Listen, we want to come here. We love this place. We got the get this thing figured out eventually. We’ll see. We’ll see what happens. I want it, does the tourism board want it? Do they or do they not? If they do, we’ll come. If not, we understand.”
White also went on to praise Hawaii’s MMA scene and said that he wanted Holloway to witness the brilliance of the local fighters here.
“This place has been the spot for mixed-martial arts since the late 90s. I haven’t been out here for a fight in a while so it was good to be back. I had Max with me seeing some of the local guys, but the main event was the fight I was really interested in. It was great. I love being out here watching fights.”
UFC has got some criticism over the years for failing to bring an event to Hawaii, especially when Bellator has repeatedly and successfully done so. However, White blames the culture of red tape in the UFC for the situation.
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