Dana White finally caved and called off UFC 249, which was meant to take place next Saturday, after he says Disney and ESPN executives told him to “stand down.”
In an interview with ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, White made clear that the decision was not his, and he was set to go ahead with the fight next weekend.
White also addressed his idea of securing a private island to host the fight after Barclay’s Center backed out and he presumably couldn’t find anywhere else to host a major MMA event during a global coronavirus pandemic.
White told Okamoto he remained committed to the idea, which was so preposterous we compared it to him being a Bond villain.
According to White: “Fight island is real. It’s a real thing … and that’s really going to happen.”
Dana White to @bokamotoESPN: "We will be the first sport back. Fight island is real. It's a real thing. The infrastructure's being built right now, and that's really going to happen. And it will be on ESPN."
— Shaheen Al-Shatti (@shaunalshatti) April 9, 2020
You can watch the whole interview here:
UFC President Dana White spoke to Brett Okamoto about #UFC249 no longer taking place on April 18.
(via @bokamotoESPN) pic.twitter.com/VRP5jL3k9J
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) April 9, 2020
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