Meanwhile, as Trumps long time pal– dating back to Whites early UFC days, when he staged cards at Atlantic City casinos Trump owned at the time– he was uniquely concerned at what was taking place back home.
” I called Jared [Kushner, Trumps son-in-law and adviser],” White informed Yahoo Sports Friday morning. “I think [Trump] survives this. He has a lot energy. He never ever stops. Hes in fantastic shape. I believe hell be okay.
” Hes the President of the United States,” stated White, who has spoken on Trumps behalf at each of the last 2 Republican National Conventions. “Even if you do not agree with him, hes a human being. And hes done some advantages for this country. Whats wrong with these dummies [rooting for him to be ill] It makes me delighted to be in Abu Dhabi.”.
Its been a wild 2020 for everybody, and White possibly more than most. Trying to run an international mixed martial arts operation during a global pandemic checked the ability, resources and resourcefulness of a company that had seen it all in developing itself into a multibillion-dollar worldwide leviathan the previous 2 decades..
White received considerable criticism when he tried to start holding cards as early as April– his very first effort at a tribal casino in California was canceled at the demand of broadcast partner ESPN. He was scolded for even trying to get back to service. He was told that doing this securely was nearly difficult..
Undeterred, White and his staff were able to pull off UFC 249 on May 9 in Jacksonville, Florida. It wasnt ideal– one fight was canceled due to a positive test– however it worked. There was no significant, or even small, break out..
” Hes the President of the United States,” stated White, who has actually spoken on Trumps behalf at each of the last two Republican National Conventions. White received considerable criticism when he tried to begin holding cards as early as April– his very first attempt at a tribal casino in California was canceled at the demand of broadcast partner ESPN. Undeterred, White and his personnel were able to pull off UFC 249 on May 9 in Jacksonville, Florida.” Obviously, we had some trial and error at the beginning,” White said. We have fans here in Australia,” White stated.
Because the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, Dana White and the UFC have held 29 occasions. (Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC) More.
From there the UFC has actually never taken its foot off the pedal. White has regularly stated that every company should try to go back to as near normal as it perhaps can.
” Obviously, we had some trial and error at the start,” White stated. “We had to reanalyze early on how we were doing things. However we continued to tighten up things up and made everything stronger. That was the essential to the success..
” Weve gotten much better and better at it,” White continued. “We are evaluating individuals 3-4 times before they even get to Fight Island.”.
The UFC definitely figured it out– and almost every sports league in the world has actually followed along. This weekend is the start of three more fight cards at the companys Middle Eastern home, a sealed off manufactured island in Abu Dhabi that has actually permitted international fighters to compete..
It is no less so as White looks back, or even forward. As Trumps positive test shows, the virus is still out there.
Its why White, who easily admits he is “petty” and loves “shutting up” the skeptics, isnt quite happy to surge the football yet..
” Let me get to 2021,” he said, laughing. “This year is insane.”.
He considers this the new typical– fight cards in television sound phases with stringent and relentless protocols surrounding it. Checking. Virus-killing misting tunnels.
He states the UFC is just aiming to make security more powerful. He has no strategies to allow a limited number of fans into arenas, as other sports have..
Story continues.
Halfway around the globe, inside an enormous pandemic-proof bubble called “Fight Island,” Dana White heard the news that President Donald Trump had evaluated favorable for COVID-19..
White, as president of the UFC, is as skilled as anyone on how to keep the virus at bay– this weekend his company will stage its 30th fight card (a Battle Night from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates) because the preliminary March outbreak shut things down in the United States..
” Im refraining from doing fans until we can have a complete arena,” White said, stating hes figured out how to make revenue numbers work despite losing out on multimillion-dollar live gates..
” I get calls from these countries, We can permit fans. We have fans here in New Zealand. We have fans here in Australia,” White said.
That suggests a normal schedule of battle cards split between the business center in Las Vegas and in Abu Dhabi..
That consists of Saturdays Fight Night featuring Holly Holm vs. Irene Aldana, and the big one, UFC 254, later on this month headlined by lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and interim champion Justin Gaethje, who took a star turn by defeating Tony Ferguson at the very first pandemic card in Jacksonville.
If that implies White has to keep spending long stretches in the Middle East, then so be it..
” Since Day 1 with this business we have said, Lets attempt to figure it out. This is no various,” White stated.
” This was hard because many effective forces were against us even attempting. And the winds changed every few hours, every day. Every time we got something done, there was something new.
” But weve done it.”.
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