Dana White discusses possibility of holding UFC events with fans, currently playing things by ear

UFC president Dana White isn’t ruling out the possibility of fans being able to watch events in person in the near future.

According to White, some states are already looking to reopen large events to public audiences. Depending on the rules and regulations laid out by state governments regarding coronavirus, it’s possible the UFC could hold open events if allowed.

“This whole thing is state-by-state or country-by-country,” White said Saturday at the UFC on ESPN 10 post-event news conference. “I know there’s a couple of states right now looking to open up to fans. We’re talking to them.”

Having fans is an all-or-nothing venture for White. The UFC won’t entertain the idea of partially attended events with social distance seating. It’s either a full arena or the UFC Apex, according to White.

“I won’t do that,” White said. “I won’t do a 15 percent arena. I’ll just stay here. It makes more sense just to stay here.”

When asked about the possibility of holding an event in New Zealand, a country which has recently held full-arena rugby matches, White said he wants to see how other organizations do before entering the territory himself.

“Well, you know what’s good?” White said. “Let them do that for a while and see how it goes. See what happens. Depending on what network you listen to, who the hell knows what’s going on? At least if some of these guys in other countries who were hit before we were (so they’re coming out of it before we are), they can see how this thing plays out, and we can go from there.”

UFC on ESPN 10 took place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. It aired on ESPN and streamed on ESPN+.

Check out the full UFC on ESPN 10 post-fight news conference with Dana White in the video above.