Yahoo Finance Report: Nevada State Athletic Commission suspends all combat sports until March 25 due to coronavirus
UFC president Dana White’s plans to keep hosting UFC events may become harder in the immediate future.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission held a meeting Saturday and suspended all fight permits until March 25. The Athletic’s Mike Coppinger reported earlier on Saturday that the NSAC had suspended all combat sporting events indefinitely due to the threat of coronavirus. NSAC executive director Bob Bennett released a statement to MMA Fighting regarding The Athletic’s report:
”I don’t know where they received that information,” Bennett wrote. “Our next commission meeting is March 25 and we will have factual information to share with you and the public. The chairman and commissioners will make that decision at the appropriate time.”
Sources: Nevada State Athletic Commission has suspended all combat sporting events indefinitely due to #COVIDー19. Canelo-Saunders can’t be scheduled until ban lifted. Affects UFC events relocated to APEX (March 28 & April 11) along with PBC (March 28) and Top Rank (April 11)
— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) March 14, 2020
The UFC is scheduled to hold two events at their APEX facility in Las Vegas on March 28 and April 11. If the ban is extended past March 25 into April, it would also impact Premier Boxing Championships and Top Rank Boxing events currently scheduled.
Dana White vows to hold fights elsewhere
Despite the NSAC ban, and nearly every other sports league in the country postponing or canceling events due to the pandemic, UFC president Dana White is vowing to still hold the fights.
White, appearing on ESPN on Saturday night, insisted that he would find new venues for the two rescheduled events that were moved to the APEX facility.
"We’re working to find new locations, but the fights will go on. They will continue.” @danawhite announces that two fight cards, originally scheduled for Columbus and Portland and recently relocated to the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, will move once more. (via @SportsCenter) pic.twitter.com/2smPcU8zKB
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) March 15, 2020
“We’re working to find new locations, but the fights will go on. They will continue,” White said on ESPN. “We’re not stopping. We will keep finding a way to put on the fights. I’m in the fight business. I’ve been doing this for over 20 years, and this stuff happens to me every weekend. I’m used to this stuff, not at this level obviously, but this is what we do. We always make sure that the fights happen and they’re going to continue to happen.
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