As far as Russian fighters are concerned, UFC president Dana White has no idea what’s going to happen.
Amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war conflict, a number of sporting organizations as well as countries are canceling the visas of Russian athletes.
Russian heavyweight Alexander Volkov is one such fighter who could be affected as he is set to headline UFC London on March 19 against Tom Aspinall.
I have cancelled the visas of the Belarusian Men’s Basketball Team who were due to play in Newcastle tomorrow night.
The UK will not welcome the national sports teams of those countries who are complicit in Putin’s unprovoked and illegal invasion of #Ukraine.
— Priti Patel MP (@pritipatel) February 26, 2022
While Volkov is said to have received his visa, the status of his flight to the United Kingdom remains unknown.
In a recent interview, White revealed the promotion was even trying to get Volkov into the country even sooner only for the latter to not go ahead with those plans.
“We’re trying to get him into England sooner so he can fight,” White told TSN (via MMA Junkie). “When things like this start blowing up, we start looking at potential problems and what possibilities are, and we try to get around them.
“We try to figure out, ‘If that’s going to happen, let’s get these guys into England earlier.’ I know that we’ve been trying to get Volkov to leave Russia, and he hasn’t wanted to.”
Dana White: World Is Getting Nuttier
Volkov is not the only one affected.
Interim bantamweight champion Petr Yan could also be affected ahead of his title unification clash with Aljamain Sterling which takes place next month at UFC 273 in Florida.
But as things stand, White has no clue what’s going to happen.
“Like I tell you guys all the time, just when you think the world’s about to get normal again, it gets even nuttier,” White added. “So we’ll see how it works out. You keep asking me questions like, ‘Will Conor McGregor fight for the title when he comes back in the fall?’ I don’t know what’s going on in the fall. When the fall comes, we’ll see what’s happening.
“‘If Petr Yan cannot get into the country?’ I have no idea what’s going to happen with Russia and all these other things. I don’t know.”
The coming weeks should hopefully provide more information.
