UFC president Dana White on weighing the risk versus reward of continuing to run events, screening measures for coronavirus this past weekend and whether there would be an event this weekend if public gatherings were still limited to 50.
Full interview: https://t.co/NIdJWOTcg3 pic.twitter.com/29jMZyIDd1
— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) March 18, 2020
The UFC was one of the last professional sports organizations still going last weekend, and the Las Vegas-based promotion had designs on continuing beyond that.
Once President Donald Trump issued a recommendation that no gatherings of 10 or more people should occur within the next 15 days, the UFC was forced to indefinitely postpone its upcoming three events as the concerns over the coronavirus pandemic continue to grow.
In an interview with TSN, UFC president Dana White explained how the promotion was willing to manage the risk of going forward with its schedule. That included UFC Fight Night 170 in Brasilia, Brazil, which took place at an empty venue on March 14.
“Health and safety is always an issue with us,” White said. “A lot of these other businesses don’t deal with this type of stuff. We deal with it every day. We have the best and the brightest. We have these doctors who work with the athletes every day. And we have doctors who work with our staff, too. Health and safety isn’t something new for us. It’s something that we live with every day. And it’s something that we think about and we focus on every day.
“Also, solving problems and craziness happening is all part of this business, so this is nothing new for us.”
Testing for coronavirus has been limited, and White all but admitted that there was none conducted ahead of last Saturday’s card in Brazil. Instead, it was a matter of careful observation to make sure no athletes or employees displayed any signs of sickness.
“It was the same stuff that’s going on that they tell you to do,” White said. “You look for the symptoms in people. And obviously these fighters go through a ton of physicals and medicals before they compete.”
Had the event gathering restriction not been announced by the government, the UFC president says the promotion would have been prepping for a card this weekend and beyond.
“Of course there would (be an event). We followed and complied all the rules,” White said. “I can’t remember what the first number was. Then the second number was 50, so we figured that out. Once they got to 10….we’re good, but we can’t pull that one off.”
While White said he doesn’t personally know anyone with coronavirus right now, he’ll be willing to do what he anything he can to take care of UFC athletes and employees that are affected.
“All of our athletes have health insurance. In these crazy times I’m hearing hospitals are backed up or whatever…If any of my employees or any of my guys need help, we’re here for them,” White said. “I’ll do everything in my power to make sure everyone gets taken care of.”