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UFC
249 forced to cancel event by corporate and political pressure - 10th April 2020
White,
who aimed to hold fights during the coronavirus pandemic, said the card would
not be held April 18, as planned. Is
looking to continue to host fights on private island “We
will be the first sport back,” White told ESPN. “‘Fight Island’
is real; it’s a real thing. The infrastructure’s being built right now,
and that’s really going to happen.” Aims
to be sports promoter who will survive global situation ala WWE's Vince McMahon 
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by
Greg Tingle The
MMA and combat sports world was pumped with the news that UFC top brass Dana White
was ready to go ahead with UFC 249 despite the pandemic crisis.
The stage was set for a super-fight as Tony Ferguson was scheduled to take on
Justin Gaethje in the main event of UFC 249. But wait, you know what they say
about best laid plans.
Dana White has been forced to cancel the events for now by the top Disney/ESPN
executives, with some political pressure for good measure. No
doubt White was impressed with pro wrestling king, Vince McMahon of the WWE being
able to stage a successful WrestleMania 36 card a week back - albeit without a
live audience in attendance. McMahon cut his losses, and the show went on. Recently,
ESPN’s Bret Okamoto announced via Twitter that White has finally canned the
idea, at least on this occasion. UFC
249 has been the center of controversies for many reasons. While almost all the
major sports leagues in the world decided to halt the sporting action due to COVID-19
crisis, UFC’s Dana White was focussed on continue putting on fights for the
fans and the fighters. However, after numerous blocks along the path to success
UFC events have been postponed until further notice. There
were a ton of speculation regarding how the California state government, which
has been very strict with its regulations for COVID-19, would react to UFC holding
events at tribal lands. The Government showed no support despite White assuring
all the precautions ahead of UFC 249. Earlier,
Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) released a statement on UFC 249 and said: “I’m
concerned by reports that Ultimate Fighting Championship plans to hold a pay-per-view
event in California, in defiance of the state’s shelter-in-place order. This
event would involve dozens of individuals flying to California and driving to
a casino for a purpose no one can honestly claim is essential. “I
understand this event is scheduled to take place on tribal land and therefore
is not subject to state law. However, at best this event ties up medical resources
and sends a message that shelter-in-place orders can be flouted. At worst, participants
and support staff could carry the virus back to their home communities and increase
its spread. “I
call on Ultimate Fighting Championship and the Tachi-Yokut Tribe to reconsider
this event and delay it until a later date. We have to be responsible and mindful
of all local, state and federal public health guidelines. Going ahead with this
event is not the right move.” UFC
249 was supposed to take place on April 18 in New York. The main event was supposed
to be between Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov. However, Khabib was out of
the title fight due to travel restrictions and was replaced by Justin Gaethje.
Mixed martial arts fans were excited by White's vision to make this happen, but
close only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades, as wrestling announcer "Mean"
Gene Okerland once told the Madison Square Garden audience in New York. It's
testing times for the world. MMA fans still have the UFC
website, UFC YouTube, UFC
FightPass and the like, and the UFC has plenty of legacy and evergreen footage.
Wrestling fans still have the WWE, their WWE
Network, All Elite Wrestling,
the NWA YouTube and other options to
get their fix. Aw
well, once can always practice in the garage of even loungeroom. Not everyone
is going to have access to a Browsey (Ronda
Rousey and Travis Brown) Acres or WWE
Performance Centre set-up, but you can still train and pray for the world
to get back to normal. Ah,
the great grappling match with life and the higher power - or whatever your explanation
for in these times happens to be. Not tapping out - just pausing! News UFC
president Dana White says he has secured an island to hold international MMA fights
-
7th April 2020 Twitter
buzz list of great MMA - Professional Wrestling cross-over stars MMA
vs Pro Wrestling vs Boxing vs Martial Arts vs other combat sports; Battle for
audiences, hearts, minds, eyeballs, advertisers, bums on seats and media rights;
eSports teaming up with wrestling 
Dana
White (UFC). Vince
McMahon (WWE), and Brock
Lesnar (still WWE, as far as the public know) 
Ronda
Rousey (former UFC Women's Champion, now WWE, however semi-retired). Artwork
of Charlotte Flair | 
