The UFC is finally following suit with other organizations and postponing events.
For awhile there it seemed like the UFC would be the only professional sporting organization that would keep putting on events. While the coronavirus outbreak has led to the cancellation of the NBA, NHL, and many other seasons of different sports, the UFC was bold enough to push forward their recent event at UFC Brasilia. It was a dangerous gamble, but the organization went through with it anyway.
But what a difference a few days can make. Now it seems like UFC president Dana White has had a change of heart. Where he promised events would move forward as planned, he is now confirming the postponement of the next three events.
According to ESPN Dana White had this to say about the upcoming UFC events.
“As you’ve heard me say, I’ve been in the fight game for 20 years, and this is what we do: We find a way to keep our events going no matter what,” White wrote in the email obtained by ESPN. “But this is different. The whole world is being affected right now, and nothing is more important than the health and safety of you and your families.”
Sounds reasonable enough. The question is why did they go through with UFC Brasilia if concern for the coronavirus was being taken seriously? To Dana White he was simply following the guidelines of president Donald Trump.
“Obviously, the president just spoke to the country and basically said — it started at [no more than] 50 people in a room, which made [Saturday’s UFC Fight Night in Brasilia] difficult, but we complied, we took all fans out and made sure as few production people in the room as possible, we pulled it off last Saturday,” White said. “Now, they’re saying thee should be no more than 10 people, and that’s impossible. We can’t do it. We’ve complied with everything the government and doctors have said to do, we have no choice but to postpone these fights.”
But what about the much anticipated match up between rivals Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson? It’s a clash years in the making and it seems like the universe doesn’t want this fight to take place. The fight has been cancelled four times before leaving fans to wonder if this would be the fifth. Dana White has put that notion to bed.
“Tony Ferguson versus Khabib Nurmagomedov is still on,” White said on SportsCenter on Monday. “That will happen. We’re going to follow these guidelines, not have more than 10 people in a room. We’re hoping this all clears up by April, and this fight is going to happen. Whatever it takes, probably not in the United States, but this fight is going to happen.”
It’s good to see Dana White and the UFC finally taking proper action. Even with allowing fifty people in one space, the risk of contracting the highly contagious virus is too high to just have fighters potentially exposing themselves. If they don’t fight they don’t get paid, which is criminal at a time like this. But because they’re hired as independent contractors they have no choice but to compete if they want to put food on their table. It makes you think that some kind of protections should be given to fighters at this level of the sport.
What do you think of the UFC postponing their next three events?
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Managing Editor at Generation Iron, Jonathan Salmon is a writer, martial arts instructor, and geek culture enthusiast. Check out his Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Sound Cloud for in-depth MMA analysis.
