White: Critics Accuse Me Of Not Caring Because They Don’t Know Me

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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president, Dana White, has caught some flack from many in the mixed martial arts (MMA) community for his desire to keep the show rolling in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

But if you ask the outspoken president about those people’s opinions, he simply doesn’t care.

And while many may appreciate a care-free attitude when it comes to not letting other people’s views of you deter you from your way of everyday thinking, in the face of a worldwide crisis, it just hits a bit different.

Nevertheless, White has his reasons for wanting to keep going, and it has nothing to do with corporate greed, as he says, stating that it’s all about doing his part to keep a sense of normalcy.

“People need to be entertained, to feel some sort of normalness going on,” White told CNN Sport’s. “And you know me, if I can still figure out ways to run the UFC and do it safely, and not put any of my people in harm then we were going to do it,” he added, while saying if you don’t believe he cares about his fighter’s or employees health, then you really don’t know him as a person.

“I could care less (about others opinions). Let me tell you what, my employees, when all of this stuff started really going down, we had a huge meeting with all of our staff. I haven’t laid of one employee,” he said.

Indeed, several businesses across the nation have had to lay off employees at a blistering pace as a direct result of mandated shutdowns due to positive cases of Covid-19, which multiply by the hour. And while President Trump is currently working on a stimulus package to bail out hard-working Americans, as well as big businesses, knowing you have a job to come back to when the coast is clear is something most would prefer.

“You can accuse me of whatever you want, but none of my people are laid off. I told all my people if any of them or their family members get sick or have any problems, you call me and I will get you taken care of.

“People who don’t know me can accuse me of whatever they want. When I asked everybody if you don’t feel safe, or if you’re in the high risk group and you guys want to go home and work from home, none of my employees walked out.”

White doubled down on his care for all of his employees and fighters, saying that he wouldn’t purposely put anyone in danger simply to improve UFC’s bottom line.

“I always take care of my people, whether it’s my fighters or my employees. Health and safety is something that I worry about every single week, not just since the coronavirus popped up. I mean, it’s what we do.

“For anybody that says that I’m not concerned with health and safety and all this other stuff, then you don’t know me.”

After UFC Fight Night 170 went down behind closes doors last Saturday (March 14) in Brasilia, Brazil, the promotion decided it would postpone its next three events on the calendar. Still, White is confident he will have his well-oiled machine up and running again just in time to stage UFC 249: “Khabib vs Ferguson” on April 18.

Location is TBD.