While the Ultimate Fighting Championship is hitting the road for
its pay-per-view events, it has remained at its home base for the
majority of its schedule since the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
Normally, a UFC Fight Night card is a chance for the Las
Vegas-based promotion to travel throughout the United States — as
well as overseas — build its fanbase and allow fighters with local
ties to get a little extra shine. It’s something UFC president Dana
White hopes to resume sometime in the near future.
“We’ve got to get back on the road,” White said Saturday folllowing
UFC Fight Night 196. “We’ve got to start going to places like
Oklahoma and all these other small towns that we do Fight Nights
in. We eventually have to get back to work. I’m looking forward to
it. Sooner than later.”
On the other hand, White admits that it can be nice to having
everything close to home at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. However,
while the convenience is appreciated, the UFC boss knows his
version of “working from home” has to end. It’s still unclear
exactly when that will happen.
“All this stuff is up and down, week to week,” White said. “We were
just having a conversation at the office yesterday …The Contender
[Series] starts at 5 p.m. and at 5:03 p.m. I leave my office, watch
some great fights and go home and have dinner. [Saturday] we got to
see Costa vs. Vettori here.
“This is the equivalent of sitting home in your underwear and doing
a Zoom call for work. It’s awesome, it’s nice and it’s great. But
this can’t keep happening.”