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With Coronavirus numbers continuing to climb in various states, who knows when America is going to get back to normal. But when it comes to sports events with crowds, it won’t be by August.
When the highly anticipated rubber match between heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier was announced earlier this month, there was no location included in the promotional material. Word was UFC president Dana White had hoped there was a chance it might be able to go down at an arena somewhere in America with fans in attendance. But the way things are currently looking, that’s just not realistic.
Thus White announced during the UFC on ESPN 11 post-event press conference that UFC 252: Miocic vs. Cormier 3 on August 15th will take place at UFC APEX with no gate.
“We would be first, if we were able to do it,” he explained when asked about a return to fans attending events. “We’d be first and do it. I just don’t see that happening any time soon in the United States. I could see it happening in another country. Not here though.”
“Again, you can’t f**king believe anything you read,” he continued. “You don’t know what’s true and what’s not true. You’re hearing ‘Flatten the curve’ and ‘The curve has flattened.’ Now they’re saying things are spiking up in Texas and Arizona and Florida and all these other places. I don’t know the answers to this stuff. That’s why I just stay in my lane.”
“We’ve got APEX. We’ve got Fight Island we’re kicking off here soon. And I am not even thinking about doing an event with fans.”