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For Dana White, a crowdless event at the UFC APEX makes more sense than a half-filled arena.
Several states in the US are easing up on previous restrictions imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. From fully closed-door mandates, many businesses are now allowed to operate at 50 percent capacity.
But if you ask UFC president Dana White in relation to his live events, that won’t be an option. It’s either they go all out with a sell-out crowd, or do it without an audience like how they’ve done for the past seven fight cards.
“I won’t do that. I won’t do a 50 percent arena,” White said at the UFC on ESPN 10 post-fight press conference at the UFC APEX facility (transcript by Sherdog). “I’ll just stay here. It makes more sense just to stay here.”
Rugby events in New Zealand are beginning to take place with thousands in attendance after the government announced that there were no more active cases of COVID-19 in the country. White says he will be closely watching how these events play out.
“Well, you know what’s good? Let them do that for a while and see how it goes. See what happens,” he said. “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, they can see how this thing plays out, and we can go from there.”
White did say that he does not need a crowd for UFC events, despite less potential revenue of about $100 million due to the absence of a live audience.