WASHINGTON – Dana White has zero interest in experimenting with an outdoor UFC event again.
Throughout the entire week, White dealt with concerns over potential rain and thunderstorms impacting Saturday’s UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House. White insisted that the show will go on regardless, and that worse case scenario, they will pause or delay the fights if necessary.
Advertisement
That’s what happened on Thursday when the pre-fight press conference had to be pushed, and UFC Freedom 250 started an hour later from the projected 8pm ET time due to a series of thunderstorms moving in. White and UFC weathered the storm, but that doesn’t mean he plans on putting on outdoor venues again – something he’s been vehemently against for years.
“No sir,” White definitively answered during the UFC Freedom 250 post-fight news conference. “I don’t ever want to be f*cking outside ever again. There’s just too much leading up to the fight you have to sweat. Unless you’re in like Abu Dhabi when we did it before – I could be the weather man in Abu Dhabi, and I’d be right all the time. But I have a question, everybody up here, all the guys, what was it like fighting outside? Did you feel like it affected you in any way, positively or negatively?”
Newly crowned lightweight champion Justin Gaethje, who dethroned Ilia Topuria in the main event, said the breeze was really nice, and also victorious Bo Nickal said he loved it. However, White’s answer remains no.
“When you’re doing events like we do, there’s enough things that you have to worry about,” White added. “What I always try to do is create the best experience possible for the fans, and if we have to worry about the weather and all the things that come along with being outside, I don’t like it.”
Advertisement
Despite White being proud of how smoothly and safely things ran on the night, he isn’t planning on having another event at the White House after it cost the company an estimated $60 million.
“That’s what I thought of the Sphere and then here we are now so, I don’t try to overthink that kind of stuff,” White said. “The Sphere happened, this happened, and I’m always looking to go to great arenas with good technology and give fans that show up the best experience I possibly can. What was amazing with this event was, you put together an event where people can’t get into it, yet 60,000 people show up to the weigh-ins, and then almost 200,000 people over two days to stay on the grass and watch on screens, it’s incredible.
“It was an amazing experience, this was one-of-one that will never happen again, and for all of us that were involved, from the fighters, to my staff, to the media, to their families, and everybody, this was a unique, cool experience. … I can’t afford it. there’s no f*cking way we can do this again. I’ll never do the Sphere again, and I’ll never do this again.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC Freedom 250 won’t change Dana White’s stance on outdoor events
