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Dana White and the UFC have been told “stand down” and will no longer hold UFC 249 or any of the upcoming events they had planned.
Earlier this week the UFC made headlines when it was reported that UFC 249 was going to take place on tribal land in California. White also said that he had secured a private island for international fights which led to some heavy backlash from MMA media members.
Unfortunately for White, the executives over at ESPN/Disney, with whom the UFC has an exclusive partnership deal, were skittish about the UFC’s wild plans to hold events during a global pandemic and shut them down.
BREAKING: UFC 249 has been canceled. All UFC events postponed indefinitely, due to COVID-19. Dana White says he was ready to promote the event but things were taken out of his control. Much, much more on this to come.
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) April 9, 2020
UFC 249, which was supposed to happen April 18, has been canceled.
Dana White confirms to @bokamotoESPN that he was asked to “stand down” by top Disney/ESPN executives and so he is doing so.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) April 9, 2020
Dana White (@danawhite) also made it clear to me after we wrapped the interview the UFC will still promote 42 events this year, which it was originally scheduled to do.
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) April 9, 2020
White goes on to say that “fight island is real” is still being built and will hold fights once things calm down.
Dana White to @bokamotoESPN: "We will be the first sport back. Fight island is real. It's a real thing. The infrastructure's being built right now, and that's really going to happen. And it will be on ESPN."
— Shaheen Al-Shatti (@shaunalshatti) April 9, 2020
The news of UFC postponing events came a few hours after Rose Namajunas pulled out of UFC 249 because several of her family members had died due to the coronavirus recently.
Immediate release: @rosenamajunas withdrew from UFC 249 due to 2 deaths in the family related to the Coronavirus. Her hopes are to return to the Octagon as soon as possible but for now we ask for people to respect… https://t.co/nyLt7W5BIE
— Brian Butler-Au (@BrianButler_Au) April 9, 2020
Update: Dana told ESPN’s Brett Bokamoto that he was going to try to “take care of as many people as I possibly can”.
UFC President Dana White spoke to Brett Okamoto about #UFC249 no longer taking place on April 18.
(via @bokamotoESPN) pic.twitter.com/VRP5jL3k9J
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) April 9, 2020
All of my fighters that are under contract with me, I want them to feel safe, take time with your families, enjoy this time, don’t worry about the financial part of this you’re going to get the fights on your contract, then I’m going to make things right for those willing to step up, I’m going to take care of as many people as I possibly can