So far, the UFC has already hosted two Jacksonville events, with Jacare Souza and his cornermen being the only ones known to the public who have been positive for COVID-19. With one more event left for this Saturday, company president Dana White is already proud of what they have accomplished.
Speaking to the media after Wednesday’s ESPN+ event, White feels the UFC is the catalyst for other sports leagues to begin their plans to resume.
“Now you see all the other sports leagues talking about, ‘we’re going, we’re going, we’re going,’” he said. “Somebody had to get out and be first. And I knew we would be, and I knew that we could pull it off safely. Like I told you before, health and safety is something we worry about all the time.
“So far (knocks on table), it’s been super successful.”
One of those planning to go back to business as usual is Top Rank Boxing’s Bob Arum, who is looking at a June return in Las Vegas. White says he is willing to share the UFC’s comeback plans to his rival promoter, but not the APEX facility.
“You know what a huge Bob Arum fan I am,” White sarcastically said.
“If Bob Arum wanted the plan that we put together to pull off this event, we would absolutely give it to them. If he wants to use the APEX, I’d tell him to go f—k himself. But we’ll give them the 30-page plan.”
The long-standing beef between White and Arum has been public for years now. The two once again went at it recently, over comments made about the UFC’s events through the ongoing pandemic.
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