JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Dana White is ready to go home.
The UFC president, despite being admittedly tired, was in a seemingly good mood Saturday when he took the podium following the conclusion of UFC on ESPN 8.
The event took place Saturday at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla. UFC on ESPN 8 marked the third and final show in an eight-day stretch for the promotion in Jacksonville. UFC 249 took place May 9, while UFC on ESPN+ 29 was a rare Wednesday card for the promotion.
“It feels good,” White told MMA Junkie at the post-fight news conference. “I’m happy to have it behind me. I wanted this week to be over. It was successful in every way it could be successful. I feel great about it. More importantly, nobody is sick. Nobody is sick. Nobody has gotten sick. Hopefully, that’s the case. There’s no guarantees in life, but hopefully that’s the case and we all go home. It was a great event. It was a great week.”
White was particularly complimentary of the local governing bodies in Jacksonville from the commission to restaurant workers in the area.
“I think we picked the perfect place to do it, too,” White said.” This town was perfect for it. Like I said, the governor and the mayor and the athletic commission – everybody was great. This arena was incredible. These guys were great to us. I don’t know what your experience was out in Jacksonville, but everybody was nice. Everybody was great. The food was awesome. I just couldn’t say enough good things about Jacksonville and the experience here. I’m glad we did it here first. I’m ready to go home, though.”
With his first three events under his belt since the COVID-19 pandemic struck the United States, White seems confident about the direction the promotion is headed. He plans to stick to the routines and regiments developed for the Jacksonville events as he tries to expand the product.
“This is what we’re going to do,” White said. “Obviously, you guys know me. You’ve dealt with me long enough. When we’re doing what we’re doing and you’re just taking unnecessary punishment, you know I’m going to (expletive) snap eventually – and I do. We worked hard. We worked hard to pull this thing off and get here. Nothing means more to me than the safety of everybody that was involved in the event. Not just with COVID-19, but the fight that wasn’t stopped soon enough – all these type of things. Anytime we finish an event, I want everybody to go home safe. It’s not any different now with the COVID-19 thing.
“We will do everything in our power. We will spend the money. We will get the best, the brightest. We’ll talk to doctors and experts in the field to figure out how to beat it. One of the things I always do is I believe nothing is impossible. Everything can be done, especially in 2020. You just have to be willing to work hard enough, spend some money, and come up with solutions.”
Check out Dana White’s comments in the video above.
Dana White reflects on UFC's three return events in Jacksonville: 'It was successful in every way'
