Sports posted Apr 9, 2020 @ 04:00pm by Josh Duncan

UPDATE: All UFC events including UFC 249 postponed indefinitely

(UPDATE: April 9 @ 4 pm) - Dana White's new plan for UFC 249 was shortlived.

On Tuesday, he announced a 12-fight card for the April 18 event that was to take place at Tachi Palace Casino Resort, which is on tribal land in California.

However, he revealed today that top executives at Disney and ESPN, who are UFC partners, have told White to "stand down," and he's doing just that.

As a result, UFC 249 has been cancelled and all UFC events are postponed indefinitely until the outlook on COVID-19 allows otherwise.

UFC President Dana White spoke to Brett Okamoto about #UFC249 no longer taking place on April 18.

(via @bokamotoESPN) pic.twitter.com/VRP5jL3k9J
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) April 9, 2020

However, he clarified that the UFC is ready to go and once they get the green light, there will be some great fights to look forward to and one of them will be at Tachi Palace.

"When the world gets back to normal, the California event will be at Tachi Palace," he said. "I'm going to do a fight there, I'm going to bring them a bit fight, and I appreciate them standing with me in this thing."

White also stressed that he wants all fighters under contract to stay safe, take time with their families and don't worry about the financial aspects surrounding this time.

"You're going to get the fights on your contract and I'm going to make things right with the people who were willing to step up and fight on April 18," he said.

"I'm going to take care of as many people as I possibly can and do whatever it takes to make these guys comfortable."

Finally, White clarified that the private island for fights is still real and infrastructure was being built there and claimed that "the UFC will be the first sport back."

(Original story: April 7 @ 6:30 pm) - You can say what you want about Dana White, but he’s come up with some elaborate plans to keep the UFC running while the entire world is pretty much shut down.

The card for UFC 249 was announced today, a 12-fight event on April 18 headlined by a bout between Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje.

ICYMI: Your entire #UFC249 card has arrived! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/qIevXfG2Iu
— UFC (@ufc) April 7, 2020

It’s taking place without fans at a secret location, although Oskar Garcia, deputy sports editor at the New York Times, reports that the location is in California.

“UFC 249 is happening at the Tachi Palace Casino Resort near Fresno, Calif., on tribal land in an end run around state regulators and public health guidelines,” he tweeted. “The casino has been closed since March 20.”

Garcia said that the event will be taking place without the blessing of the California State Athletic Commission, which said it won’t participate in UFC 249 regardless of location.

UFC 249 is happening at the Tachi Palace Casino Resort near Fresno, Calif., on tribal land in an end run around state regulators and public health guidelines. The casino has been closed since March 20. @kevinmdraper: https://t.co/v5yVYWMc78
— Oskar Garcia (@oskargarcia) April 7, 2020

As for future fights, White has apparently thought about those too, at least according to a TMZ interview on Monday.

He said he’s locked up this “top secret” venue for two months and is ready to set up shop and pump out fights every week.

White added that he’s also “a day or two away from securing a private island” and the UFC is “getting the infrastructure put in now, so I’m going to start doing the international fights too.”

Dana White to TMZ

"I locked this venue up for two months. I have this venue for two months and I’m setting up shop here. We’re going to be pumping out fights every week". pic.twitter.com/HpMva4w20S
— John Pollock (@iamjohnpollock) April 7, 2020

The private island appears to be his way of getting around not being able to get international fighters into the US due to travel restrictions.

Whether this will all go the way White has planned or be shut down nearly immediately remains to be seen, but it certainly has MMA fans excited for April 18.