Dana White feels the mainstream media is blowing things out of proportion.
The UFC president has been persistent in his efforts to hold as many UFC events as possible in the midst of the coronavirus. White has taken heat for trying to push through with UFC 249 on April 18 amid the pandemic. The UFC boss has responded by calling MMA media members the “wimpiest people on earth.”
Dana White Says Media Is Making Coronavirus Seem ‘Scary’
White appeared on Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson. During the interview, White expressed his belief that the mainstream media is making COVID-19 seem worse than it is (h/t MMAFighting.com).
“Everybody’s running and hiding,” White said. “I’m one of those guys that would rather get out there and find solutions. How do we figure this out? How do we beat this thing?
“Listen, if you’re somebody that’s a high risk, you should probably stay away and stay quarantined for a while. What happens when flu season comes again next year? What happens then?
“I think that the media has made this thing scary,” White continued. “People are buying all of the toilet paper there is. If you just look at a lot of things that are going on, it’s wacky and totally driven by fear. It’s very weird.
“I think that in a year or two, we’re going to be like, ‘holy s**t, we shut down the whole world for this thing.”
UFC 249 was scheduled to take place inside the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. Those plans went awry due to an executive order limiting the gatherings for events. The UFC quickly realized they couldn’t use their Apex setup in Las Vegas after the NSAC suspended sporting events. In addition, CDC guidelines forced the UFC to postpone three cards.
White told Tyson that he has four or five potential locations for UFC 249. The UFC boss also confirmed to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto that some bouts on the card will have to be replaced. White revealed that he’s looking into moving Francis Ngannou vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik to the UFC 249 event.
