Dana White continues to be outspoken about both the coronavirus situation and the UFC’s response to it in a new interview with Yahoo! Sports.
“How long are we going to do this?” White asked Yahoo! reporter Kevin Iole. “How long are we going to stay in our houses and hide? If the coronavirus is going to get me, then so be it. It is what it is. Heart disease, car accidents, cancer, the list goes on and on on, all these things that kill people every year.
“One thing is guaranteed – We’re all going to die of something. You can’t be somebody that’s going to hide in your house for months,” stated White, who also says he’s remained at home since March 15th. “You’re going to hide in your house for months? For what? No way. To be honest with you, if this goes on for months, I have a great house to be locked up in, man.
“My house was built for quarantine; we’re having a blast over here. I’m spending incredible time with my kids and family. I’m doing two-, three-a-day workouts over here. We’re doing things that we haven’t done with the kids since they were little. I can do this forever if that’s what everybody wants to do.
“But is this what were going to do? Since when do Americas run and hide in their frickin’ houses instead of taking this thing head on and finding solutions?” he continued. “You find solutions on how to continue to live your life, protect the people that need to be protected.
“I don’t think I’m a high-risk guy for this thing, and if I’m wrong, then the corona is going to get me. It is what it is. There’s nothing you can do about it. I’m not going to refuse to live my life. I’m not going to hide.
“Whether you’re a coronavirus expert or not, it’s like hiding from cancer. You can’t hide from this thing. If you are a high-risk person, this thing’s going to get you.”
In essence, White appears to be aligning with President Donald Trump, who has recently been hinting that he wanted to lift the restrictions on people going about their lives as soon as possible after posting, “we can’t have the cure be worse than the problem,” on Twitter.
With that in mind, White appears to have his heart set on not only pressing ahead with UFC 249, but then getting back to a normal fight schedule afterwards, while also finding room to fit in the three events that were recently postponed due to the crisis.
“The fights that were rescheduled, I need to knock them out, I need to squeeze them in somewhere, and yes, we will resume our regular schedule. They might be with no crowd, they might be somewhere else. I don’t know how this is going to play out over the next several months, but these fights will happen, and I will have them.”
As for UFC 249, White has confirmed there are locations available to host the show, but he is keeping his cards close to his chest with regards to where they might be.
“We have two or three options in the U.S. and three or four options outside the country. So I’m not going to tell you. Everyone is on a need-to-know basis, and nobody needs to know right now. There’s still a few details that need to be worked out, but I have a lot of options.”
