Dana White Dismisses Coronavirus Protocol Criticism
UFC President Dana White dismissed recent criticism from The New York Times following a report they released regarding the promotions safety protocols in place at UFC Jacksonville.
The report broke down a UFC “Jacksonville Operations Plan” that it had received and exposed the failure of the UFC to comply with its own safety guidelines.
During the two events that have taken place at Jacksonville (UFC 249 & Fight Night: Smith vs. Teixeira) protocols within the plan were not followed such as requiring all UFC staff to wear protective gear, such as masks (something white) at all times. This was not followed as both fighters and commentators were shown without protective masks on at various stages throughout the week. Another big part of the plan that was abandoned was to have the octagon interviews done at a distance, not inside the octagon which is where they all took place over the past two events.
In a report by MMA Junkie, White was asked about the New York Times story to which he didn’t deny any of the facts reported instead shifting his focus to the author Kevin Draper.
“F*ck that guy. F*ck that guy, You know what happened with that guy? That guy who’s never covered the sport was writing a story about Endeavor (UFC’s parent company) and then the UFC was one of the Endeavor … you know. And what happened when this guy and this paper covered the UFC – when they’ve never covered it before? What do you think happened?
“This f*cking story was huge. They did killer traffic. Now they’re writing stories, three a week, and they’re posting live results. I don’t care what this guy thinks or what he has to say, what he writes. Good for him, he’s pulling traffic.”
MMA Junkie then continued to ask white his thoughts on how the article could affect the business to which he replied.
“I don’t give a f*ck, Don’t give a f*ck.”
The UFC plans to hold another event at the VyStar Veterans Memorial in Jacksonville this Saturday, it remains to see if they will make any changes to their protocol.
