White Sees No Issues Making Fights Right Now
UFC president Dana White doesn’t foresee any major problems making fights within his roster amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The promotion successfully completed three events in Jacksonville, Florida, over the span of a week and will be looking to resume the schedule again on May 30.
There are also plans for events to take place on Fight Island, particularly for international fighters who are unable to enter the United States due to travel restrictions.
As for any potential fights he had in mind for a Fight Island card, White isn’t sure. However, there should be no problems whatsoever in that regard as the UFC head honcho revealed only Rose Namajunas has qualms about fighting during the pandemic.
“I have no idea yet,” White responded at the UFC Florida post-fight press conference when asked if he had an idea of who he wanted to feature on a Fight Island card. “We’ll figure that out. I mean, guys are training, people are training right now. People want to fight. So I don’t see an issue making a fight with anybody right now.
“And other than Rose — there might be others, I don’t know if this is a fact — but I don’t think there is anybody else who has brought up issues about fighting right now.”
That’s not a criticism at Namajunas either.
The former women’s strawweight champion was set to compete against Jessica Andrade in a rematch at UFC 249. However, she pulled out of the card after two members of her family passed away due to COVID-19. It’s completely understandable that she wouldn’t want to compete right now.
Whether every other fighter is perfectly fine with competing during a global pandemic, however, remains to be seen.
But based on the overall success of these past three cards — so far at least — it does seem like White will have no problems booking fights in the future.
