Boxing promoter Bob Arum has slammed the UFC and Dana White for proceeding with fight cards in the midst of a global pandemic, but says he expects nothing less from White – a vocal advocate of the leadership of Donald Trump.
The UFC has been knocked back on several occasions in recent weeks, first in London and then on tribal land in California, as they tried to maintain a business-as-usual approach while most other global sporting entities ground to a halt in light of the ongoing coronavirus health crisis.
UFC 249, which was intended to take place last weekend, was canceled by White at the eleventh hour after the UFC president received pressure from broadcast partner ESPN and Disney, who owns an 80% stake in the sports network.
Undeterred, White has maintained that he will push forward and plans are being arranged to hold a fight card on May 9, most likely in Florida.
This comes as the United States is currently in the grip of nearly 900,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and, as of Wednesday, while the national death toll approaches the 50,000 mark.
However, various states in the country are treating the crisis differently. New York, the epicenter of the virus in the United States, remains on lockdown but other states, such as Florida, have announced that “essential” businesses like WWE (and presumably UFC) can push forward as planned. For a fight promoter like White, that’s music to his ears.
However, legendary boxing promoter Arum says returning swiftly is not a good look for White or the UFC. The CEO of Top Rank has maintained over the years that he isn’t a fan of the UFC product, but he does hold their promotional acumen in high regard. However, he has taken exception to their apparent willingness to host fight cards in the middle of a health crisis.
“Dana White supports Trump for President, and that says it all,” Arum said to the Pug and Copp Boxing Show.
“There’s really a divide here. There’s the Governor Cuomo and Governor Newsom element sense of governing. That’s where we do things in a sensible, stable way.
“And then there’s the Donald Trump way of governing, where you say anything that comes to your mind that might benefit you. And that’s whether that’s true or not. Dana White is a cowboy, he isn’t thinking out the situation, all he wants to do is put an event on.”
White is a vocal advocate of Donald Trump, and spoke in endorsement of Trump’s Presidential candidacy during the Republican National Convention in 2016.
He has been pictured alongside Trump in the Oval Office, and was also recently part of a teleconference hosted by Trump with sporting leaders where they discussed plans to once again roll out large-scale sport during the pandemic.
“And now we learn that one of the events he was going to put on at the Tachi Palace, before it got pulled, would’ve involved a fighter who has tested positive for coronavirus. That is irresponsible. We cannot act irresponsibly at the moment,” Arum said, referring to UFC fighter Lyman Good, who recently confirmed he had tested positive for COVID-19 before eventually making a full recovery.
Arum meanwhile, has postponed or canceled all of his scheduled boxing events through to the end of June.
