Dana White is hoping to start hosting events at the UFC Apex by the end of May.
Speaking to Barstool Sports, UFC president White revealed his plan to have the UFC’s upcoming May 23 card take place at their Las Vegas facility. The card is projected to be headlined by a welterweight bout between former 170-pound champion Tyron Woodley and Gilbert Burns.
White also confirmed that the Contender Series will soon return as he laid out his plan to establish the Apex as a home for live fights moving forward.
“I’m shooting for the 23rd,” he explained. “So we’ll do four fights in two weeks. Contender Series will happen too.”
White also gave an update on “Fight Island,” and his intention to rebook some of the recently scheduled international fights, which will now take place on the island.
[lawrence-related id=514763,514369,515471]
“Mid-June, if we could get all the infrastructure done by mid-June, I would love to do a fight that weekend that the place is completed. If not, we’ll look at the end of June.
“We were supposed to do a fight in Brazil, we got a fight that we were supposed to do in Kazakhstan, we got a fight that we were supposed to do in Perth, Australia, so all these fights would now move to ‘Fight Island.'”
The UFC is set to return this Saturday for UFC 249, with a UFC title double-header topping a stacked fight card in Jacksonville. After the three-event week in Florida with shows on May 9, 13 and 16, White plans to return to a weekly event schedule as he puts the UFC back on track following the COVID-19 outbreak.