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When it comes to attendance at Ultimate Fighting Championship events, it’s all or nothing for Dana White.
The UFC president addressed the possibility of holding cards at venues filled at a fraction of their capacity down the road, a retriction that would be imposed to enforce social distancing guidelines to combat the spread of the coronavirus. Given that option, White would prefer to remain at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas with closed-door events for the time being.
“I won’t do that,” White said at the UFC on ESPN 10 post-fight press conference. “I won’t do a 50 percent arena. I’ll just stay here. It makes more sense just to stay here.”
According to White, the promotion is in discussion with a few states regarding open events. Each state in the U.S. has elected to open at a different rate during the COVID-19 pandemic. While some have had success keeping infections down, cases have reportedly spiked in some states that led the charge for reopening.
“This whole thing is state-by-state or country-by-country,” White said. “I know there’s a couple of states right now looking to open up to fans. We’re talking to them.”
White also addressed the possibility of holding a card in New Zealand, which has reported the recovery of its last coronavirus patient on June 8 and filled a stadium for a rugby match on Saturday. For now, White is taking a wait-and-see approach.
“Well, you know what’s good?” Let them do that for a while and see how it goes,” White said. “See what happens. Depending on what network you listen to, who the hell knows what’s going on? At least if some of these guys in other countries who were hit before we were, they can see how this thing plays out, and we can go from there.”