Dana White has finally decided to call off UFC 249 after top executives from ESPN and Disney forced him to do so.
The stage was set for one of the most awaited fights in the history of UFC, as Khabib Nurmagomedov got ready to defend his lightweight title against Tony Ferguson at UFC 249. However, the organization had to cancel the “cursed” fight after the lightweight champion revealed that he could not travel because of travel restrictions brought upon by the pandemic. And that was just the beginning.
Breaking: Dana White cancels UFC 249
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Dana White was still persistent to go ahead with UFC 249 as he booked an island as the home for upcoming events. White also booked Justin Gaethje vs Tony Ferguson as the main event of UFC 249 and added a heavyweight battle between Francis Ngannou and Jairzinho Rozenstruik in the card to make up for the cancelled showdown between Khabib vs Tony. However. despite all that effort, Dana White finally had to call it off.
Dana White vows to take care of his fighters
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However, this leaves the fighters in a tough position. Will they be able to get fights promised as in their UFC contracts this year? And what about the fighters who stepped up to fight at UFC 249 despite the pandemic? Will they be compensated?
He assured fighters that he will take care of as many people as he can until the action resumes. In a recent interview with ESPN’s Bret Okamoto, he said,
“Don’t worry about the financial part of this. You’re going to get the fights on your contract. And I’m going to make things right with the people who were willing to step up and fight next weekend. And I’m going to take care of as many people as I possibly can.”
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Dana White urged the fighters to stay home and stay safe until the dust settles.
Leading up to UFC 249, while many were in favor of Dana White, others were against him. He faced a lot of criticism for going ahead with UFC 249 as the rest of the world tried to survive the pandemic. However, MMA fans had nothing but appreciation for the UFC president for trying to put on a show for his fans. And after White’s assurance, the fighters in UFC will take a sigh of relief as well.