Dana White’s plan to run shows out of the UFC’s Las Vegas-based APEX facility is alive once again as the UFC president told Variety Tuesday night that they will begin running events there starting in May.
“We built the APEX facility next door just in time to save the day from this pandemic. Live fights will be produced out of there starting next month and for the foreseeable future,” he said in an email statement to the entertainment publication.
The reason that could happen is an expectation that Nevada will ease their non-essential business restrictions that extend through April 30th which would allow the company to run shows in front of empty seats. The state did not respond to Variety’s request for comment.
White has had to cancel four shows thus far due to the coronavirus pandemic, including this Saturday’s UFC 249 as California governor Gavin Newsom reportedly intervened with Disney executives on not running a show on tribal land in Lemoore, CA. White said last Thursday that he had another state, governor, and commission on board even if Lemoore fell through, but was told not to move forward.
On Tuesday, White was named by President Donald Trump as one of the sports figureheads involved in a long list of business executives tasked with how to restart the country’s economy amid the pandemic.
WWE’s Vince McMahon and the UFC’s Dana White will be among the industry leaders speaking with Donald Trump as the United States attempts to begin reopening its economy amid the coronavirus pandemic.
At a press briefing today, Trump announced that McMahon and White are included in his sports “Great American Economic Revival Industry Group.” Here’s the list of sports leaders who were announced as part of the group:
MLB – Rob Manfred
NFL – Roger Goodell
UFC – Dana White
PGA – Jay Monahan
LPGA – Mike Whan
USTA – Patrick Galbraith
MLS – Don Garber
WWE – Vince McMahon
NASCAR – Lesa Kennedy
NHL – Gary Bettman
New England Patriots – Bob Kraft
Dallas Cowboys – Jerry Jones
Dallas Mavericks – Mark Cuban
WNBA – Cathy Engelbert
NWSL – Lisa Baird
Other Great American Economic Revival Industry Groups feature leaders from the agriculture, banking, construction/labor/workforce, defense, energy, financial services, food and beverage, healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing, real estate, retail, tech, telecommunications, and transportation sectors. There’s also a group for thought leaders.
“Today, President Donald J. Trump announced many of the esteemed executives, economists, scholars, and industry leaders who together will form various Great American Economic Revival Industry Groups,” the White House announced in a press release. “These bipartisan groups of American leaders will work together with the White House to chart the path forward toward a future of unparalleled American prosperity. The health and wealth of America is the primary goal, and these groups will produce a more independent, self-sufficient, and resilient Nation.”
After taping shows in advance, WWE has resumed live television episodes from Orlando, Florida. Florida added “Employees at a professional sports and media production with a national audience — including any athletes, entertainers, production team, executive team, media team and any others necessary to facilitate including services supporting such production — only if the location is closed to the general public” to their list of essential services last Thursday.
White issued a statement to Variety saying the UFC plans on producing fights out of its APEX facility in Las Vegas, Nevada: “We built the APEX facility next door just in time to save the day from this pandemic. Live fights will be produced out of there starting next month and for the foreseeable future.”
UFC president Dana White told ESPN Tuesday that the company is now focusing on Saturday, May 9th, for their return to action including a targeted card that would be among their deepest of all-time.
Brett Okamoto tweeted that White “remains adamant” that the company will get back on their schedule and that “barring outside factors”, the May 9th show will happen in a location that is still to be determined.
Okamoto tweeted that this is the card being targeted:
UFC interim lightweight championship: Justin Gaethje vs. Tony Ferguson
UFC bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo vs. Dominick Cruz
UFC women’s featherweight champion Amanda Nunes vs. Felicia Spencer
Jair Rozenstruik vs. Francis Ngannou
Donald Cerrone vs. Anthony Pettis
Jeremy Stephens vs. Calvin Kattar
Greg Hardy vs. Yorgan de Castro
Fabricio Werdum vs. Alexey Oleynik
Michelle Waterson vs. Carla Esparza
Jacare Souza vs. Uriah Hall
Niko Price vs. Vincente Luque
Charles Rosa vs. Bryce Mitchell
May 9th was originally slated to be UFC 250 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Last week, White had to cancel plans to hold this Saturday’s UFC 249 at the Tachi Palace Casino in Lemoore, CA, due to the governor intervening with Disney/ESPN officials as the show was set to be held on tribal land. White said plans for “Fight Island” — a secret location where infrastructure is being put in place to both train fighters and put events on — are ongoing and could be up and running within a month.
White said he had a state, athletic commissioner, and governor all lined up to do the 249 event, but that Disney/ESPN asked him to “stand down”. Florida is being speculated as a possible destination given their controversial governor’s decree Monday that pro sports, including WWE, are “essential businesses” but cannot have fans in attendance.
White has been thwarted by travel bans and location availability due to the worldwide coronavirus pandemic in an effort to keep putting on events. He has had to cancel shows on March 21, March 28, April 11 and the aforementioned UFC 249, remaining steadfast that the UFC will be the first sports entity to return to action, even if it has to be in front of empty arenas.
The organization has yet to formally announce their plan on how to test all personnel involved for COVID-19 before, during, and after these events with White insisting they have it covered.
President Donald Trump announced Tuesday afternoon that White will be part of a group of sports commissioners working together on getting the sports industry back to work.
In between, we learned about a not-so-secret location in California and a private island that is being tricked out in order to host fighters’ training camps and events featuring international fighters.
Strange? Yes.
I called upon MMA Junkie senior editor Dave Doyle to help me sift through the last seven days and to understand why it’s so difficult for fans to simply accept what is happening in the world and how things got so ugly on social media so quick. (Spoiler: it’s not the media’s fault UFC 249 got canceled. It’s the coronavirus pandemic.)
Dave also dropped a gem near the end of the show when he revealed he was backstage in Revere, MA, the night of the Mass Transit Incident detailed in the recent Vice Dark Side of the Ring documentary. We discuss what happened and how he almost got New Jack on the record first about what happened.
This story was updated at 9:30 PM Eastern | Image: Yahoo
In a dizzying week for the UFC, Dana White told ESPN’s Brett Okamoto Thursday afternoon that UFC 249 is canceled and all upcoming events have been postponed indefinitely.
The reason: the highest levels of Disney, owners of ESPN, and the sports network themselves told him to “stand down” and not do the event, which was set for Lemoore, CA’s Tachi Palace Casino a week from this Saturday. ESPN is both the UFC’s sole North American pay-per-view provider and rightsholder.
White insisted that “Fight Island” is real (a reference to a private island White said the company has secured to run shows featuring international fighters) and that the UFC will be the first sport back and that it will be on ESPN. He also revealed the idea was his and Endeavor’s Ari Emanuel, co-owner of the UFC. The location and logistics for how that island will work are yet undisclosed.
“When my partner (ESPN) says they are ready to go, I’ll be ready to go,” White said. Within a month, he claimed that fighters could start training on the island and that an event could happen there soon after.
White said the company could have gone April 18th in Lemoore or another venue he had secured with an athletic commission and the state’s governor on board. He didn’t disclose what state that was in. White took it as a personal mission to make the 249 show happen, repeatedly insisting that he could make the show happen and denouncing a New York Times article that questioned the company’s ability to do COVID-19 testing before, during, and after the show.
From a financial standpoint, White said he would take care of his fighters by getting them all of their contracted fights this year (“everyone is going to get paid”) and that no one was getting laid off.
Okamoto said afterward that White told him all 42 scheduled events for the year will still happen as planned.
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including Dana White plowing forward like a cartoon villain running UFC shows on indigenous land and in a private island in the fucking ocean, WrestleMania weekend numbers, RAW, a look at the awesome Edge documentary, and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Timestamps:
Start: Dana running shows on an island
23:39: UFC 249 card
26:22: WrestleMania Google numbers
36:48: Raw
58:19: Edge documentary
1:09:58: People at Australia show test positive for coronavirus
A beaming Dana White told TMZ Monday that as of April 18th, “the UFC is back in business” after securing a venue for two months and, apparently, a piece of international property.
White said that he is in the final stages of securing a private island on which they will stage shows featuring international fighters that are unable to get to the United States due to coronavirus related travel bansk. He said the company is setting up their infrastructure there now, but it’s unclear how that process will work given the various travel bans around the world, especially getting fighters back into their home country.
He said that the UFC has secured a venue for two months that April’s UFC 249 will be held in in addition to shows every week, effectively getting the company back on its usual busy schedule if his plans come through.
He declined to say where the venue is, but it’s been rumored as on the U.S. West Coast and possibly on Native American tribal land.
White also said Joe Rogan will be calling shows despite the longtime UFC color commentator recently saying on a podcast that he wasn’t interested in doing so due to the pandemic.
The UFC president has been adamant about the company putting on shows despite other sports leagues shutting down and have had to cancel three events thus far. He emphasized that everyone involved will be tested for COVID-19 from fighers to trainers to UFC personnel.
Dana White announced Monday afternoon that former UFC interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson will face former World Series of Fighting lightweight champion Justin Gaethje for the interim lightweight title at UFC 249 on Saturday, April 18th.
The location for the fight? “Somewhere on EARTH!!!!!”, White said in his tweet. A location on tribal ground somewhere in/around the West Coast is reportedly where the company will aim to run shows for the forseable future, according to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani.
It’s assumed the event will be in front of an empty arena and is still scheduled for pay per view on ESPN.
The original main event was scheduled to be Ferguson challenging current champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, but Nurmagomedov is stuck in Dagestan, Russia, due to the coronavirus related travel bans around the world. He said UFC had told him the fight was going to be in Abu Dhabi, but those plans changed after his arrival there.
The 31-year-old Gaethje has won three straight, all by first round finish while the 36-year-old Ferguson has won twelve straight dating back to October 2013.
On Sunday, White said he was going to announce the full card for the event on Monday, which is expected to feature only those fighters who live in the United States due to the travel ban. He and the Endeavor-owned UFC have come under scrutiny for continuing to push on having events despite the global pandemic and without a documented plan on testing fighters, staffers, and arena personnel for COVID-19.
The White House announced Saturday that they were holding a conference call with major United States sports commissioners as well as WWE’s Vince McMahon and UFC’s Dana White.
It’s unknown how long the call lasted, but a brief statement was released afterward giving the vaguest of details:
President Trump’s call with sports league commissioners has wrapped up.
White House spokesman Judd Deere says the commissioners “thanked President Trump for his national leadership and for his interest in the sports industry.”
McMahon, White, Adam Silver (NBA), Roger Goodell (NFL), Rob Manfred (MLB), Gary Bettman (NHL), Cathy Engelbert (WNBA), Jay Monahan (PGA), John Middlebrook (NASCAR) and Don Garber (MLS) were all invited to the call. No one from the NCAA was included.
The UFC has desperately wanted to continue to get back to putting on events but states and countries locking down on non-essential businesses being allowed to operate, something that has recently affected both WWE and AEW in Florida.
The NBA, NHL, golf, and NASCAR all suspended their seasons in March while MLB postponed the start of their season. There has been some talk this week about the NBA possibly holding playoffs in a single location with no fans, but nothing was formally announced.
WWE is airing WrestleMania over two nights this weekend, but it was taped more than a week ago. AEW also taped a slew of matches this past week to air over the next several weeks as Georgia also is shut down to non-essential businesses operating.
One of the most anticipated fights in recent history has also been one of the toughest to book and for a fifth time, it appears it will carry that mantle once again.
On a social media chat Monday, UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov said he is unable to leave his home in Dagestan, Russia, due to the coronavirus pandemic related travel ban, thus putting his UFC 249 main event against Tony Ferguson on ice once again.
Nurmagomedov said the UFC told him the event was “100%” happening in the U.S, and was “99%” going to be in Abu Dhabi. He then moved his camp from San Jose, California, based AKA to the United Arab Emirates in preparation only to be told the borders were going to close, so they went home to Dagestan instead. He said he continues to train, but is unsure for what fight and when.
While UFC has not commented publicly on this development, ESPN’s Ariel Helwani reported that they are looking for an alternative which could be fellow top lightweight contender Justin Gaethje. Nurmagomedov alluded to the fact UFC was looking for other options and Gaethje is a managerial teammate of the champion’s.
Helwani’s sources say the UFC 249 pay-per-view will likely be somewhere in the U.S., but would have to feature all fighters based in the U.S. due to the various travel bans. The show was originally slated for Brooklyn, NY.
The face of the Endeavor-owned company, Dana White, has been unrelenting in his efforts to put on events while other major sports have shut down. Various state regulations surrounding mass assemblies of people have ensured any event in the short term will have to be held in front of no fans, but there are questions surrounding COVID-19 testing procedures and related medical testing that White has yet to answer outside of saying “the less the media and fans know, the better.”
Are you interested in attending our annual F4W/WON convention? We will hold it during AEW Double or Nothing weekend. For more information, check this post for activities and prices.
A detailed look at how the pro wrestling and MMA industry has changed in just one week is the subject of our in-depth lead story.
We cover:
Steps taken, made, executed, and constantly changed, from WWE, UFC, AEW and every other company.
Which companies can afford the lockdown the best, and which companies are threatened the most.
WWE, why they chose to do WrestleMania now on tape, why the move made little sense.
Why UFC was forced to shut down shows and the steps they took to avoid it.
What AEW said and what it actually meant.
The dangers from doctors on doing shows right now.
Latest ideas for WrestleMania, revenue lost by not doing the show now, just how fast decisions were changing, pro wrestling vs. MMA in an empty arena, styles vs. styles in an empty arena, what does and doesn’t work, ideas to make the show more entertaining, what is and isn’t finalized for WrestleMania, and update on other planned WWE events.
We also cover:
WWE training, who were brought to the WWE & AEW taping, what was said to those working there, Dana White’s memo to the staff, why UFC had it harder to keep shows going than pro wrestling, UFC’s economic realities, different reactions of talent about shows continuing, new dates for major shows, next shows on UFC schedule, ESPN plans, Japanese government reaction, updates on Japanese shows, XFL ending the season, how the first season leaves the XFL in its quest to make it, Bellator’s reaction, MLW’s reaction, Impact’s reaction, NWA’s reaction, Independent shows, WrestleCon, U.K. groups, Mexico and other U.S. indies.
AEW’s live television show, the in and out of character remarks, Cody and Tony Khan’ reactions, and show things were handled
A look at the career of Jushin Liger, his historical status, his early career, his becoming the best wrestler in the world, his debut with the character, who was first pegged for the role, his debut with the gimmick, his U.S. arrival in WCW, his one MMA fight, and his list of credentials.
Why WWE stock hasn’t collapsed, Shane McMahon’s income, Michelle Wilson and George Barrios’ severance packages, update on The Revival, WWE threatens small group on a frivolous case, WWE legend selling his home, last several weeks of Canadian TV ratings, Jerry Lawler talks empty arena matches, latest WWE tryout, Sonya Deville talks storyline she wanted, as well as the most-watched shows of the past week on the WWE Network.
Full coverage of the UFC’s empty arena show in Brasilia, Brazil with the stories coming out of the show and match-by-match coverage.
A feature on the worst weekend in the history of the business when Chris Benoit murdered his wife and son. We look at the Reelz television show that just came out covering the crime as well as a look at the Viceland story coming this week. We talk about different theories, the death of Eddy Guerrero, CTE, steroids, xanax and more, WWE reaction, drug testing questions and problems and much more.
Regarding the Wednesday numbers, we’ve got full details, demos that each side won, how every segment did and what match ended up as the difference maker.
Full coverage of all the WWE and AEW television shows from the past week.
In-depth looks at the ratings of all the major shows, the key demos and quarters for AEW and WWE, what happened head-to-head and what can be learned from them.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
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WEDNESDAY NEWS UPDATE
WWE
This week’s episode of The Bump featured Seth Rollins, Sami Zayn, Daniel Bryan, Drew Gulak and Tyler Breeze.
Samoa Joe’s 30-day suspension for violating the WWE Wellness Policy ended on March 24.
WWE has filed for new trademarks related to the WrestleMania 36 changes, including “Too Big For One Night!” and “I wasn’t there”.
Becky Lynch and WWE are partnering with the Special Olympics for School of Strength, an exercise regimen focusing on at-home workouts.
NJPW has uploaded a number of matches from their New Beginning USA tour from earlier this year on their YouTube page.
MLW has signed a new TV deal in Poland that will allow MLW Fusion to air on Fight Klub Poland.
MMA
Dana White told Brett Okamoto today that the UFC 249 card will likely be a totally new card that will have a mixture of existing fights and new bouts. A Francis Ngannou/Jairzinho Rozenstruik bout is currently in the works for the event.
Conor McGregor says he will donate 1 million euro worth of protective equipment that will be deployed to all hospitals in the Leinster region of Ireland.
Journey Newson’s knockout victory over Domingo Pilarte from UFC 247 has been overturned by Texas officials due to a drug test failure.
UFC president Dana White promised that UFC 249 would happen despite the coronavirus pandemic and it appears he is .01% away from making that happen.
In an Instagram chat with Yahoo’s Kevin Iole Monday and confirmed again with ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, White says that a location for the April 18th pay-per-view is “99.9% done” and will also feature a full undercard but with no fans in attendance.
White told Iole, “I do (know where it is), but I’m not ready to tell you yet. I know lots of things.”
The show is set to be headlined by UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. no. 1 contender Tony Ferguson in the company’s fifth attempt to make the fight through the years. The champion is currently training in Russia while the challenger is still in the U.S.
While the UFC did have a full slate of fights scheduled before the pandemic, the question of where the show will take place if it does happen could determine how many of those originally scheduled fights actually take place, especially if those fighters don’t want to risk the travel or if travel bans remain in their countries of origin.
The co-main event features two former strawweight champions rematching in Rose Namajunas vs. Jessica Andrade, Jeremy Stephens vs. Calvin Kattar, Uriah Hall vs. Jacare Souza, Islam Makhachev vs. Alexander Hernandez, and more.
White told Iole that any fighter or staffer who doesn’t feel comfortable with being part of the show doesn’t have to be.
The show was originally slated for Brooklyn, NY, but cannot be held there due to the state ban on large gatherings due to the pandemic.
Despite mass gathering bans and travel restrictions amid the worldwide coronavirus epidemic, the UFC remains undeterred in continuing to operate in a business as usual fashion.
UFC president Dana White appeared on SportsCenter Saturday night (video below) to address the recent changes in Las Vegas where Nevada has suspended all combat sports events as well as a decision to move this Saturday’s London, England, show, likely to a location in the United States.
With regard to UFC 249 on April 18th headlined by lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson, White said that show cannot go forward as planned in Brooklyn, NY, due to the state’s mass gathering ban. White hoped by 10 AM Eastern Sunday, he will have two venue options and the show will happen as planned.
“We will keep finding a way to put on the fights. I’m in the fight business. I’ve been doing this for over 20 years and this stuff happens to me every weekend, so I’m used to this stuff. Not at this level obviously, but this is what we do. This is what we do and we always make sure the fights happen and they’re going to continue to happen,” White said.
UFC, owned by Endeavor, had planned to run two upcoming shows at their APEX facility in Las Vegas, NV, but the Saturday development on the combat sports ban prevented it. With most states and countries enacting various mass gathering bans in an attempt to curb the spread of the virus, the UFC will seemingly have to go the route of empty arena shows if they are to keep running.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson said Tuesday that he will make an announcement Friday that he wanted to “tell UFC fans and MMA community first.”
Johnson was on an Instagram chat with UFC president Dana White talking about this Saturday’s UFC 244 pay-per-view in which he will present the winner of Nate Diaz vs. Jorge Masvidal with the “BMF” belt, a ceremonial championship created for this fight only.
At the end of the talk, he said he will make the announcement Friday at a UFC press conference. The company has yet to formally announce a time or location.
Johnson is an Endeavor client, the company that owns UFC. A longtime UFC fan, the idea for Johnson to present the belt to the winner of Saturday’s main event came up from Masvidal on social media.
The announcement could be associated with Athleticon, a three-day event next October in Atlanta, GA, that will focus on athletics, fitness, and entertainment. In this CNN article, it mentions “competitive athletic events” which could mean a UFC event considering Athleticon is held over a weekend.
It is not expected the 47-year-old will announce he is going to fight in the UFC.
That’s what UFC president Dana White said to TMZ, confirming the former WWE and movie megstar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will indeed present the winner of Nate Diaz vs. Jorge Masvidal with the newly-created BMF belt at UFC 244.
The two are facing off in the main event of the show, emanating from New York City’s Madison Square Garden. The BMF title, conceptualized by Diaz, will be a one-off promotional tool and not an official championship to be defended.
Earlier this month, Masvidal tweeted that Johnson should present the belt to the winner to which Johnson replied that if he could make the fight, he would do it. it appears his schedule has been cleared to do just that.
When asked, White told TMZ the belt will cost $50,000 to create and that Johnson will present it to the winner. He is a longtime fan of the sport and has been seen cageside at events before.
