Dana White Wants To Put On UFC 249 To ‘Get Some Normalcy’ Back To The US

In an interview with Safe Distance with Mike Tyson (via MMA Weekly, UFC President Dana White said that he wants to put on UFC 249 in spite of the Coronavirus pandemic to restore normalcy to the country. The main event, if the fight happens on April 18 as planned, will be Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson. Here are highlights:

On why he wants to hold UFC 249 now: “I’m gonna try to pull off Tony vs. Khabib on April 18 and try to get some normalcy back into this country.”

On not being able to have Khabib vs. Ferguson happen: “Every day that I work on this thing, I get another curve ball thrown at me when I wake up. Every time we plan something, it falls apart. Gotta redo it, redo it. I have four or five locations right now. We’re getting this deal done. Then we’re gonna figure out who we can get in, who we can’t, and build a card around it.”

On the Coronavirus reaction: “Everybody is running and hiding. I’m one of those guys that would rather get out there and find solutions. How do we figure this out? How do we beat this thing? Listen, if you are somebody that is a high risk, you should probably stay away and stay quarantined for a while, but what happens when flu season comes again next year? What’s gonna happen then? I’m looking at the positive side, just spending time with my family, hanging out at my house and doing things that I don’t normally get to do. I been working out like crazy. I’m gonna come out of this thing better than I went in. I’ve been a good boy. I’be been doing what I’ve been told to do. I’ve been locked in my house. Everybody is complying, so we’ll see how this thing plays out.”