UFC President, Dana White, will make UFC 24: Khabib vs. Tony Ferguson happen on April 18.
However, it won’t be in the originally planned Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, thanks to the recent coronavirus ban. Still, White, he will just send the event somewhere else on the planet.
White was forced to cancel the UFC’s next three events, UFC Fight Night 170, UFC Fight Night 171 and UFC on ESPN 8. They have been postponed indefinitely because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Appearing on ESPN, White made it clear that the much anticipated Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson fight would go on.
”So as of now, the fights can’t happen at the Apex here in Las Vegas,” White said. “So we’re working to find new locations. But the fights will go on, they will continue. We’re not stopping, we’re going to keep finding a way to put on the fights. I’m in the fight business. I’ve been doing this for over 20 years.
“So this stuff happens to me every weekend. So I’m used to this stuff … not at this level, obviously. But this is what we do and we always make sure that the fights happen, and they’ll continue to happen.”
The Show Must Go On
White feels that his track record s a promoter is enough to insure that the he can keep the show rolling. With the amount of employees and shareholders that need to be satisfied, White is trying to avoid a major crisis.
“Listen, this is what we do, we put fights on every weekend,” he said. “The fighters want to fight and the fans want to see it. I’ve had nothing but positive feedback from the fans and the fighters. These guys all want to continue, so we will. Obviously, we’ve had some blowback from the media that covers us, but everybody is going to have their opinion.
“We are going to continue on, and these three fights that have been postponed, they will still happen and Khabib vs Tony is on for the original date,” he continued. “We are going to keep fighting.”
White then went on a rant about how the media has covered his intent to keep fights active. With the coronavirus, every other major sport has cancelled seasons and events, however, White’s stance is controversial.
“Think about this: Go online and look at some of these people – and this isn’t a knock, this is just a fact: The weakest, wimpiest people on earth cover the biggest, baddest sport on earth,” White said. “What do you expect them to say? What do you think they’re gonna say?
“Listen, the media can talk as much sh%t as they want,” White continued. “They don’t feed families. They don’t take care of people. We were taking care of people and making sure that everybody’s healthy, and every fighter that’s with me on the road is getting much better medical attention than they are at home – if they’re with me. You know what I mean?”
