Opinion: The Ringmaster’s Drive to Beat COVID-19

I was worried about this fight too... but I will get this done #UFC249 @TeamKhabib @TonyFergusonXT pic.twitter.com/JnDOdvrMlr

— Dana White (@danawhite) March 24, 2020

Editor’s note: The views and opinions expressed below are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sherdog.com, its affiliates and sponsors or its parent company, Evolve Media.

The ordering process for Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-views has changed: UFC 249 is only available on ESPN+ in the U.S.

* * *
When Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight titleholder Khabib Nurmagomedov recently revealed that he was stranded in Dagestan following Russia’s suspension of international flights, it looked like the death knell for UFC 249. The card had already suffered multiple setbacks on account of the COVID-19 pandemic, including being forced to change venues and mounting pressure from pundits and rivals alike to postpone the event. With the most enticing fight on the card being canceled yet again, it seemed like the obvious decision was to delay the show until after the coronavirus crisis was resolved, rather than risk fighter and staff safety to put on an event that would be some sort of amalgamation of matchups from canceled UFC Fight Night cards.

However, for UFC President Dana White, that was never an option.

“The challenges are that every time I get something figured out, I wake up the next day and the world has completely changed again … everything that I work hard on the day before, me and my crew, has now fallen apart, ” White told the Heavyweight Podcast, “so back to the drawing board, and we’re figuring this out right now, as we’re speaking right now. I have people working on this thing as we speak. Listen, I am absolutely [expletive] relentless and I said that this fight is going to go on, and it will.”

On the surface, White’s choice to move forward with UFC 249 doesn’t seem to make much sense. Although postponing the event would cost the company incoming revenue and sunk marketing expenses, the UFC is still a highly profitable enterprise and should have plenty of runway/means to borrow during the economic downturn caused by COVID-19. While parent company Endeavor is in a less enviable position, in a worst-case scenario, the entertainment conglomerate could sell its stake in one of the various properties it has acquired in the past several years in order to stay afloat, including part or all of their 51 percent ownership in the UFC. As I pointed out before, should UFC 249 take place and even one person become sick or test positive for COVID-19 following the event, the promotion could find itself on the end of one of many expected lawsuits, something that doesn’t seem worth the risk now that the biggest draw on the card is no longer set to take place. Even if the show continues as a pay-per-view event, there is no guarantee it will bring in big numbers given the last-minute change of the main event and many people looking to save as much money as they can.

A closer look at the UFC under White’s leadership, however, begins to paint a different picture. The former boxing manager turned promoter has a track record of getting what he wants done, whether it’s securing lucrative multi-year media rights deals or a crossover matchup between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather. When events have run into issues that threatened their cancellation in the past, White has pulled out all the stops to keep them intact, from bringing in last-minute replacement fighters to moving cards across state lines less than a week before they were set to take place. The first time White was ever forced to cancel an event—UFC 151—he placed the blame solely on UFC light heavyweight Jon Jones for not taking a short-notice fight against Chael Sonnen, claiming that it was “one of the most selfish, disgusting decisions” he had ever witnessed.

The more one continues to look at White’s modus operandi, the more it becomes clear that he doesn’t view COVID-19 as a life-threatening pandemic; it’s simply another obstacle he must overcome to keep the fight business going. That type of win-at-all-costs mentality is something that White has demonstrated throughout his tenure with the promotion. In the early days of the UFC, the 50-year-old used it to acquire the biggest names in the sport and promote events to new heights, helping to launch the company into the goliath entertainment enterprise it is today. More recently, White has used that philosophy to arrange advantageous partnerships for the organization, such as the broadcast deal with ESPN and sponsorship deal with Reebok, even though such arrangements have drawn criticism for hurting fighter compensation. Ultimately, throughout White’s entire career, there are numerous examples of his doing whatever he believes is best for business and necessary to expand the UFC’s empire, no matter how ruthless or ill-advised it may seem from the outside looking in. If anything, he relishes any opposition to his actions, as it only drives him even more to succeed.

With Nurmagomedov out of UFC 249, rumors of what fight will move into the headlining spot have begun to circulate. They include potential matchups pitting Justin Gaethje against Tony Ferguson and Jorge Masvidal against Kamaru Usman. While many fans and media members have urged the UFC to give up on the card now more than ever, clearly their pleas have fallen on deaf ears, as White has been adamant the event will move forward as long as he has the power to make it happen. April 18 is still several weeks away and a lot could change between now and then, but to those who think White is going to have a sudden change of heart and cancel the event may want to think again. It’s simply not in his nature.

Help Prevent the Spread of the Coronavirus

Sherdog recommends all readers comply with CDC guidelines and remain as isolated as possible during this urgent time. Visit the Centers for Disease Control at CDC.gov or the World Health Organization at Who.int for the latest information on the coronavirus and learn what you can do to stop the spread.