UFC hopes to bring fights to Las Vegas in May
JACKSONVILLE, Florida — UFC president Dana White reiterated Friday his plan to bring a UFC event to Las Vegas on May 23.
Former welterweight champion Tyron Woodley is expected to take on contender Gilbert Burns in the main event, though the fight is not yet signed.
The organization will return to live action on Saturday, kicking off a stretch of three cards in eight days in front of no fans at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville. Then the focus will turn to the UFC’s home town.
White hopes to hold an event, without fans, at the UFC’s Apex facility in Southwest Las Vegas on May 23. A Nevada Athletic Commission official had no comment on the matter.
While UFC officials said there are at least 10 states that will allow them to hold events, Nevada is not one of them at the moment.
White did, however, express optimism about Gov. Steve Sisolak’s announcement Thursday that the state could start the process of reopening some non-essential businesses on Saturday.
“The governor is starting to loosen some things up in Nevada now and some things are starting to open up,” White said. “So hopefully we can still keep that date.”
The longtime Las Vegan said one of the most jarring images of this entire saga was the closing of Nevada’s casinos.
“In my lifetime, I never thought I’d see the Las Vegas Strip shut down,” he said. “I never thought that would happen. I didn’t even think it was possible. And it happened.”
If the UFC is allowed to resume operations in Nevada, White said they would run a regular schedule of cards out of their facility featuring mostly domestic fighters. He once again pointed to plans to start running international shows out of a rented locale that has been dubbed “Fight Island.”
According to White, the land is secured and infrastructure is being completed with a target date of mid-June.
“I’m not sure if I can go that weekend or the end of June, but we’re looking to pull it off as fast as we can,” said White, who noted the island was rented and not purchased.
He declined comment on its whereabouts.
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.