We may be witnessing a sell-out UFC event much sooner than expected, even as early as next month’s UFC 260.
The UFC has not hosted an event with the liberty to carry full fan capacity since UFC 248: Adesanya vs. Romero in March of 2020. Nearly one year to the day, Dana White is now making moves to provide fans with the full UFC experience once again after Texas Governor Greg Abbott lifted all COVID-related restrictions, including capacity and mask requirements.
There has been a mixed public reaction to Abbott’s controversial decision, but there is one man who knew exactly which side of the issue he stood on the moment he heard the news, and it was a stance located right next to a telephone.
“As soon as the governor of Texas said that, I called,” Dana White said at the UFC 259 pre-fight press conference. “Dallas said no and (we’re) working on Houston…so (we’ll) see if we can get Houston done.
“I want to go to Texas ASAP. I’ll go in the next two, three weeks. I’m ready to roll. So we’ll be first, we’ll open this thing up, we’ll sell it out, and be on our way.”
Dana White was then asked specifically if the next pay per view: UFC 260: Miocic vs. Ngannou could be the first event with fans at full capacity. White’s response rang as cautiously optimistic.
“Could be,” White said, seemingly restraining his excitement. “Yeah, we’ll see what happens.”
There have been events with limited fans in attendance since the COVID shutdowns, namely the trio of Fight Island events to kick off the year punctuated by UFC 257: Poirier vs. McGregor. Since the shutdowns, the UFC has had two homes: Abu Dhabi and Las Vegas, Nevada. With Texas opening up, Dana White and the UFC have wasted no time in going house-hunting for a place big enough to hold as many rabid, uncaged fans as humanly possible.
Do you think it’s too soon for the UFC to be packing arenas?
