White: UFC will host multiple events in Las Vegas starting May

Photo by Chris Unger/DWCS LLC

Dana White is (again) confident that this will push through.

While Dana White’s plans for UFC 249 got shutdown for April, the company is currently targeting to host shows in May. They’re reportedly booking three title fights for an event on May 9th, and trying to host a pretty sick card in the middle of this pandemic.

Dana White isn’t keeping the location secret this time around, revealing that they’re planning on hosting this on the UFC APEX facility in Las Vegas. The venue is next door to the UFC’s main office in Las Vegas, and was home to Dana White’s Contender Series.

“We built the APEX facility next door just in time to save the day from this pandemic,” White told Variety. “Live fights will be produced out of there starting next month and for the foreseeable future.”

Nevada’s stay-at-home order, which has shut down all non-essential businesses, is currently in place until April 30. Variety also reports that the UFC is “expecting those restrictions to be eased within the coming month to allow for events to take place without a live crowd present.”

Related: WSJ: UFC pushing through to reach event quota, earn around $750 million

With Donald Trump’s blessing, UFC is seemingly trying to pull off something similar to the WWE, which managed to convince Florida to deem them as an essential business. There will still be a lot of hurdles to overcome here though, and one of them involves the Nevada State Athletic Commission, who just earlier in the month said they will not sanction or license any events.

“The NSAC will not have any Unarmed Combat events until further notice,” the NSAC statement read last April 5th (via MMAWeekly). “We will listen and follow the science regarding COVID-19 and move forward with events accordingly. The health and safety of the fighters, their camps, the fans and our staff is the number one priority.”

Things of course are highly fluid as of this moment, and a lot of things can change in the next three weeks. Coronavirus death rates are still skyrocketing in the US (over 26,000 total and counting), with April 14 reportedly the record high with over 2400 dead in the country in just 24 hours.

The UFC President though seems confident (again) that this pay-per-view would happen. White, who earlier challenged everyone if they wanted to bet against him about UFC 249 pushing through, again brought up another wager.

“The whole business has been on a killer run since these guys got involved. Don’t ever bet against Endeavor.”