UFC 249 CANCELLED – All events postponed
A final, deadly blow has been dealt to UFC 249, and subsequent events, as they have all been cancelled despite UFC president Dana White’s best efforts.
The Covid-19 pandemic truly has been all-consuming. As all sporting leagues were put on hold, the UFC soldiered on. White had secured a venue and safety measures for UFC 249, and was even planning on hosting future events on a private island. However higher-ups at Disney, who own the UFC’s broadcast partner ESPN, simply put a stop to White’s plans.
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“I told you this whole thing has been a battle since Day 1,” White said in a video interview with ESPN’s Brett Okamoto. “We’ve been fighting non-stop all day and all night since this pandemic started to put on this event on April 18. And today we got a call from the highest level you can go at Disney and the highest level of ESPN. One thing that I’ve said since we started our relationship and partnership with ESPN – and it’s been an incredible one, it’s been an amazing partnership. ESPN has been very, very good to us, and the powers that be there asked me to stand down and not do this event next Saturday.”
Though all this White says that Tachi Palace Resort and Casino, the venue on tribal land that UFC 249 was to be held at, have maintained a desire to hold the events. Several MMA events have been hosted at the Casino throughout the years, and they allegedly stood their ground in willingness to continue. He also states that the UFC will be back, and that events will supposedly be held at the private island White secured.
White had defied the odds and shown true resilience, but he also received criticism for perhaps not taking the situation seriously. He had compared the Coronavirus to cancer and saying one can’t hide from the diseases, despite cancer not being contagious and people actually being able to avoid getting the Coronavirus through social distancing.
While this is disheartening, implying that all UFC events are cancelled or postponed until further notice, it may, altruistically, prove to be worth it in the end.
