Dana White is fed up with what he believes is the coronavirus “bulls—.”

The UFC president has conveyed mixed messages recently as he said there was no point panicking about the pandemic last week, only to postpone three events including the outright cancelation of a show in London Saturday.

He was criticised for his initial insistence that his shows must go on, with The Guardian and Bloody Elbow reporter Karim Zi dan calling it “reckless and irresponsible.”

White called the MMA media a bunch of wimps.

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UFC boss Dana White said he is fed up with the coronavirus “bulls—” he apparently has to deal with, then dunked on the mixed martial arts media by calling them a bunch of wimps.

White has conveyed mixed messages in the last week, telling the media he had spoken to the US president Donald Trump, that there was no point panicking about the coronavirus pandemic, before vowing his UFC events would continue.

Within days, three UFC events had to be postponed, including the outright cancelation of the UFC Fight Night 171 show, which was supposed to take place in London’s 02 Arena on Saturday.

According to MMA Junkie, White said on Thursday that he’s frustrated with “dealing with the bulls—.”

Health concerns, the need for social-distancing, and bans on mass gatherings in major cities has shut down major leagues and sports events around the world. UFC has been affected, and even criticised for its initial defiance of the pandemic and the need to postpone events.

The Guardian and Bloody Elbow reporter Karim Zidan called it “reckless and irresponsible.”

White said: “Think about this: Go online and look at some of these people [criticising] and this isn’t a knock, this is just a fact: The weakest, wimpiest people on Earth cover the biggest, baddest sport.

“What do you expect them to say? What do you think they’re gonna say?

“I have over 350 employees who work for me. Multi-billion-dollar companies are laying off all their employees right now. We haven’t laid off one person at the UFC. And every fighter that fights for me will fight three times this year.

“Our schedule will go on. Everybody’s gonna get paid, and we will figure this out, and we will be the first sport back on. And, uh, f— that s—.”

White wants UFC up and running before any other sport

Photos by Getty Images Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson.

It is unclear whether the UFC will test athletes, trainers, and staff for coronavirus when it restarts its events. White recently said that the upcoming mega bout between lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson on April 18 will go ahead, even though it won’t take place at its original venue – the Barclays Centre in Brooklyn.

White went on: “The media can talk as much s— as they want. They don’t feed families. They don’t take care of f—— people. They don’t have people that count on them. They don’t have people to support.

“We’re doing the right thing as far medical testing goes and everything. That’s all we f—— do. That’s nothing new. We were doing that s— way before the coronavirus. We were taking care of people and making sure that everybody’s healthy, and every fighter that’s with me on the road is getting much better medical attention than they are at home – if they’re with me. You know what I mean?

“I told our whole roster: If you or your loved ones have any type of situations or anything wrong, call me. I’ll do everything in my power to make sure you get taken care of.”

He then said he wants the UFC to be “up and running before any other sport” and could hold events behind closed doors at their private facility, the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“Here’s the reality: We will be up and running before any other sport will,” White said. “Our sport’s different. We have our own arena next door [the Apex]. So we will fulfil every fight for every fighter this year, and we’ll get this thing done.”

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