Dana White explains why he fought so hard to avoid canceling UFC shows

The UFC has indefinitely postponed the next three shows on its calendar, but company president Dana White fought hard to avoid that.

Speaking on SportsCenter on Monday, White explained why he was so reluctant to alter the UFC schedule—even after most other sports leagues closed up shop.

“This is what we do,” White said (transcript via MMA Junkie). “We put fights on every weekend. The fighters want to fight. The fans want to see it. I’ve had nothing but positive feedback from the fans and the fighters. These guys all want to continue. We will. Obviously, we’ve had some blowback from the media that covers us, but everybody is going to have their opinions. We’re going to continue on. These three fights are postponed. They will still happen. Khabib vs. Tony is on for the original date. We’re going to keep fighting.”

During the same interview, White also reaffirmed that Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson will fight on April 18, though likely not in Brooklyn, New York.

“Tony Ferguson vs. Khabib on April 18 is still on and that will still happen,” White said.

“We’re going to follow these guidelines not to have more than 10 people in a room, and we’re hoping this all clears up by April,” White added. “This fight’s going to happen. No crowd — whatever it takes. [It’s] probably not even going to be in the United States but this fight’s going to happen.”

The three events that were canceled by White and the UFC were originally expected to go down in London, Columbus and Portland over the next three Saturdays. The UFC boss has stated he intends to rebook all the matchups from these cards in the future.

Do you think Dana White made the right decision when he finally pulled the plug on the next three UFC events?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 3/17/2020.