UFC president Dana White blasts media critics in video detailing his pandemic success
UFC President Dana White has released a video rallying against the media critics whom he defied during the COVID-19 global pandemic.
Dana White has tweeted out an interesting video, taking a jibe at some of his media critics
The video features clips and images of several media critics who had criticized Dana White’s decision to go forward with organizing UFC events during the pandemic.
Every other sport had shut down at the time, but Dana White and the UFC chose to take the challenge head on.
Dana White shared the video via his official Twitter account. White sent out a tweet featuring the video alongside a statement that read as follows:
“As we roll into 2021, I just wanted to remind everyone there’s ALWAYS a solution to every problem! So, cut through all the bullsh**, and don't let these people that don't matter tell you how to live your life.”
Fans can check out the video in the tweet embedded below:
COVID-19 posed severe logistical challenges to businesses around the world
The COVID-19 pandemic, which is said to have originated in December 2019, resulted in many regions all over the world going into lockdown.
Businesses around the globe were adversely affected by the lockdowns and travel restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The sports industry wasn’t spared either. Many notable sports such as baseball, basketball, cricket, football, boxing, etc. had to temporarily shut down because of the pandemic.
However, during these times of uncertainty – especially in the first half of the 2020 calendar year, when everyone around the world was getting accustomed to dealing with the lockdowns and travel restrictions – UFC President Dana White came up with a solution.
Dana White let the combat sports world in on the fact that the UFC was planning to organize events in a behind-closed-doors kind of setting. White had suggested that fans wouldn’t be allowed to attend the UFC events, but the events would go on as they used to before the pandemic.
Additionally, Dana White and the UFC provided state-of-the-art testing facilities and safety measures to protect their athletes, staff, and others involved in the UFC events, from contracting COVID-19.
The UFC and Dana White led the way in the sports industry by being the first major international sports organization to organize an event during the COVID-19 global pandemic.
The UFC braved the storm and provided sports entertainment to fans worldwide
UFC 249 – a PPV event that took place at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida, on May 9, 2020 – is regarded by many as the first major sports event to take place after the COVID-19 pandemic shut down sports.
Furthermore, the UFC eventually began holding events at the UFC Apex that’s located in Las Vegas, Nevada. The first UFC event held at the Apex was UFC Vegas aka UFC on ESPN: Woodley vs. Burns, which transpired on May 30, 2020.
Dana White had promised fight fans that the UFC would be organizing events in another location as well. White revealed that this location would be known as ‘Fight Island'.
This name set the entire combat sports world abuzz with excitement and anticipation, particularly as many fight fans likened the Fight Island idea to the type of detail one could expect to see in a classic martial arts movies.
Comparisons to the late great martial arts legend and action movie star Bruce Lee’s film ‘Enter the Dragon’ were a notable part of debates and discussions in the MMA world with regard to Fight Island.
The hype and excitement surrounding UFC Fight Island (Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, UAE) paid off, and the very first event at this venue – UFC 251: Usman vs. Masvidal that took place on July 12, 2020– became the highest-selling MMA PPV of 2020.
UFC 251 did more than 1.3 million PPV buys. This is the highest for an MMA PPV in 2020 and second-highest overall combat sports PPV after November’s Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. PPV that sold more than 1.6 million PPV buys.