While we’ve known for some time that the UFC’s next three events in eight days starting with UFC 249 on Saturday night will all take place in Jacksonville, Florida, but until now the location for a planned May 23rd event had remained a mystery.
Now White has finally spilled the beans that the event will take place in the UFC’s own home city of Las Vegas.
“While everybody was f—-ing lying out by the pool, hanging out and doing whatever the f—k they’re doing in quarantine, we were in here f—-ing grinding, man,” White told Sports Illustrated. “Fighting crazy wars every day to put on this first event. We pulled it off. We were gonna be able to hold this thing earlier, and they asked us to stand down. … Now we’re going Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday.
“And I don’t think I’ve told anybody this yet: We’re gonna come back to Vegas and put on a fight May 23.”
A venue hasn’t yet been announced for the event, which will be headlined by Tyron Woodley vs. Gilbert Burns, but the UFC’s APEX facility at their headquarters is one possibility that had been under consideration previously.
White also addressed the UFC’s current health and safety procedures and assured everyone that they are doing everything they can to ensure that their upcoming events provide a safe environment for everyone.
“I don’t wanna die,” White said. “I don’t have a f—-ing death wish. I’m not out there trying to kill myself. And I don’t want to kill any of my employees or their families. It’s not like we’re running around with no plan. The thing is: Let’s find solutions. How do we get back as close to normal as we could possibly get? A 15,000- or 20,000-seat arena with no fans isn’t normal. A lot of things aren’t normal going into this event. But we’re trying to figure out how to make it as safe as possible.
“Let me put it this way: We’re gonna go so overboard making sure everybody is healthy and safe that I just don’t see how we can possibly f—k this up. … My fighters and my employees have been told: If you’re not comfortable coming back to work, you don’t have to. It’s not like we’re in some dire financial situation, like that’s why I’m pushing this.”
