White: UFC return is ‘very expensive’ but ‘I have this thing figured out’

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UFC president Dana White says going back to regular schedule cost him a lot of money.

UFC 249 may have been scrapped, but Dana White isn’t letting it be a hindrance to his plans to carry on with holding fights amid the pandemic. This week, the company announced a new schedule for May 9th which will feature three title fights in a stacked card.

In a recent interview on Sirius XM’s NASCAR Radio, the UFC president revealed that pushing through with his scheduled events was a costly venture.

“I was supposed to go this Saturday at Tachi Palace in northern California. I got it done,” White said (transcript by MMA Fighting). “We could go. I was asked to not do the event from my partners [at ESPN], who I respect, so I did it. I gave them the weekend off and I’m actually at the office right now. We’re back in here. We’re working. I have a date now for May 9.

“Listen I’m not stopping. I have this thing figured out,” he added. “The reality is can it be done? Yes, it can be done. It’s just very expensive. It’s very expensive and I’m willing to spend the money to do it.”

The May 9th event, which was supposed to be UFC 250, has no confirmed venue as of this writing. White says the company’s APEX facility in Las Vegas will be the venue of all fights starting next month, but other options could be a place in Florida.