Dana White drops timeframe for UFC fights on ‘private island’

UFC President Dana White is determined to keep his international fighters busy during the coronavirus pandemic. The obvious obstacle he faces is getting those fighters to their fights amid the growing travel restrictions associated with the pandemic.

Earlier this week, White surprised the sports world when he announced his planned solution to this issue: he’s working on securing a “private island” where he will allegedly be able to promote fights.

Ignoring the fact that pretty much every island on earth falls under the jurisdiction of some country, and that most countries have banned public gatherings and closed their borders, it certainly sounds interesting.

Speaking on ESPN’s Get Up! on Wednesday, White opened up on this surprising plan, and even dropped a timeframe for the first UFC fights on his private island.

“We’re still working on getting that deal done, which we’ll have done this week,” White said of his island plans. “If I keep putting on fights only in the United States with United States talent, I’ll run through all my talent very quickly. This is a global sport, we do lots of fights internationally, and we had a lot of fights scheduled internationally. Those will continue.

“I have an island that we can fly everyone right into — hopefully by like, mid-May,” White added, dropping the timeframe for his island fights.

White then shared his belief that the coronavirus pandemic and its resulting restrictions could be a part of our lives for quite awhile. Despite this possibility, he intends on keeping things moving — even if other sports organizations fail to do so.

“It doesn’t look like this thing’s ending anytime soon,” White said. “You listen to what a lot of these politicians are saying, they’re taking about the NFL not going in September.”

What do you think of Dana White attempting to promote UFC events on a private island?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 4/8/2020.