UFC President Dana White (R) speaks with UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov (Photo by Isaac Brekken/Getty Images)
As most of the sporting leagues across the world have shut down due to the coronavirus, Dana White has taken the lead to ensure fans remain entertained.
The UFC president is yet to shut down operations and call off UFC fights despite travel bans across the world.
White was adamant, in a recent interview, that UFC fights would go on. He did say that some venues would be changed and fans would not be allowed into the arenas.
UFC Brasilia was the first such event without any fans and it felt a little weird, to be honest. Many other MMA promotions have decided to call off events or suspend operations till things become better, but the UFC will continue.
This does provide White with an advantage. Since no other sporting league is on, fans will have to tune into the UFC to get their fill.
Fans of rival promotions might also watch UFC events regularly, and that should see PPV sales go through the roof.
However, the UFC will still lose out on millions from ticket sales but White is a shrewd businessman and would have calculated all this before going ahead.
White has made the UFC into one of the biggest MMA promotions in the world, but this decision to continue fighting could prove to be costly.
The UFC schedules fights in advance but the travel ban has affected them immensely. UFC London was expected to take place this weekend, but that is off now.
The UK is suffering massively from the coronavirus pandemic, and flights to the country could be stopped completely soon.
Since London is off the table, the next UFC event would take place in America but changes have to be made to the fight card.
That has led to all amounts of chaos regarding who can fight whom. Normally, a fighter has two-three fights in a year and prepares for months regarding each clash.
Simply getting people onto the card not only is a risky move for the fighters involved but it also will affect the product.
A rivalry was built up for UFC London between Tyron Woodley and Leon Edwards, but that had to be cancelled due to the coronavirus.
Colby Covington is a decent replacement for Edwards, but that isn’t the case everywhere else. A lot of fighters just don’t want to risk such things, and that is something that White seems to be disregarding.
It seems like the fighters are the ones who have been shafted by this move from White. They almost don’t seem to have a choice regarding whether they want to fight or not.
MMA is still a full-contact sport and there are chances the virus could spread even if a handful of people are in the arena.
The right move would be to not allow fighters to move around and participate in any bouts. UFC might have some of the best doctors, but this is a crazy decision taken by White.
Controlling the virus has to be first priority all around the world, and self-isolation will work a lot. Social distancing doesn’t seem to be on the mind of White, and hopefully, this decision doesn’t come back to bite him.
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