UFC President Dana White is attempting to move forward with UFC 249, despite not having a location to hold the event, potentially losing half of the main event and the coronavirus pandemic.
Boxing promoter Bob Arum and White have been rivals for a longtime, but Arum believes that White has flawed intelligence for trying to move forward with UFC 249.
“What’s going on in this country and the world with this virus, the last thing we need is for an event to take place with no spectators just to get the event to take place,” he said on CBS Sports’ State Of Combat podcast (via Simon Head of MMA Junkie). “But the truth is, Dana White is somebody with a flawed intelligence.”
The UFC has already postponed three events, with those being UFC Fight Night Columbus, UFC Fight Night London and UFC Fight Night Portland.
Arum also had to postpone/cancel boxing events in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and he won’t make any plans until the virus starts clearing up.
“People ask me what plans I’m making for these fights when we will get the all clear. Because I don’t know when the all clear is going to be and I have no idea whether it will be two months, three months or even the rest of the year, I’m not making any plans right now,” he said. “When this thing looks like it’s clearing up, we will start making plans.”
UFC 249 takes place on Saturday, April 18 from a location to be announced with Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson headlining so far. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
