UFC events planned in California canceled. ‘Powers that be’ interceded, Dana White tells ESPN
UFC 249 is not taking place at Tachi Palace Casino Resort in Lemoore, after all.
UFC president Dana White shared the news with his pay-per view partner Thursday, telling ESPN that “the powers that be” at ESPN and its owner, Disney, “asked me to stand down and not do this event.”
The event was to take place April 18. According to sources cited in multiple reports, White had swung a deal to bring pay-per-view events including the marquee UFC 249 to Tachi. All of those events are now off. White on Thursday confirmed that Tachi was the planned site and promised to bring a UFC event there after shelter-in-place orders are lifted.
ESPN released a statement to The Bee:
“ESPN has been in constant contact with the UFC regarding UFC 249. Nobody wants to see sports return more than we do, but we didn’t feel this was the right time for a variety of reasons. ESPN expressed its concerns to the UFC and they understood.”
Tachi has been closed since March 20 as a precaution against spreading the coronavirus, COVID-19. But since it’s on Tachi-Yokut tribal land, it’s not required to adhere to California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s shelter-in-place order that has stopped all large gatherings.
That prompted California Sen. Dianne Feinstein to send out a statement prior to the cancellation on Thursday.
“I call on Ultimate Fighting Championship and the Tachi-Yokut Tribe to reconsider this event and delay it until a later date,” Feinstein said. “Going ahead with this event is not the right move.”
Feinstein later released a statement to The Bee.
“I’m pleased that UFC and the Tachi-Yokut Tribe canceled the upcoming event at the Tachi Palace Casino Resort. Now is the time to be particularly vigilant as we continue to fight this deadly virus,” she said.
In an interview with TMZ, White sent out a thank you to Tachi Palace “for having my back in this whole thing” and promised to hold an event there in the future.
“I can tell you this, when we come back to California, our first event is going to be at Tachi Palace,” he said.
“Whenever things get back to normal. We’re going to do a real event there and show these guys the love they showed us during this thing.”
This story was originally published April 9, 2020 at 4:02 PM with the headline "UFC events planned in California canceled. ‘Powers that be’ interceded, Dana White tells ESPN."
