🥊 Dana White Finally Wins

UFC 249 is officially set for this weekend, and Dana White is thrilled to lead the charge of the return of sports. [View in browser]( In today’s FOX Sports Insider: Through all the changes and the bluster, the show will finally go on for Dana White and UFC ... the return of baseball (in South Korea) reminds us just how much we miss the game ... and we celebrate the NFL’s 2020 schedule release with an exclusive show you won’t want to miss. This time, barring some major last-minute snafu, Dana White is going to get it done. The Ultimate Fighting Championship president, perhaps the most relentless promoter in all of sports, wanted to keep the mixed martial arts show on the road even throughout the initial height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, he is primed to be an early outlier in getting things going again. According to a series of recent interviews, White has no problem stating he really couldn’t give a (expletive) about any naysayers who feel like the dangers of the coronavirus are still too real and present to consider putting on live sports, and he’ll (expletive) well tell that to anyone’s (expletive) face. [STORY IMAGE 1] Forgive the spicy language here, redactions notwithstanding, but White is a sporting creature who is both complex and straightforward — and listening to the scale, vehemence and frequency of his profanities actually offers something of an insight into his psyche. In short, when each sentence is punctuated with a proliferation of obscenities, it often means that things are going particularly well for White. In context, right now, they are. Think what you like of White, but he has never stopped grinding throughout this — and he is about to get his reward. On Saturday, UFC 249 is scheduled to finally take place, headlined by an interim lightweight title bout between Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje, at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla. A few weeks back, when White made his first stab at staging the card, he was full of bombast and optimism, claiming that he would find a way, any way, to put on a card amid a litany of paralyzing obstacles. [STORY IMAGE 2] As American life came to a halt, White bulldozed through one barrier after another, to eventually find a Native American casino in California willing to stage the contest, with its protected status thought enough to skirt around state lockdown orders. However, he was asked to stand down, prompting a fresh set of efforts and phone calls. With both Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, and its state athletic commission on board, White has every reason to have a little swagger right now. “Before the first attempt, Dana was saying things like, ‘Trust me, you know me.’ In others words, he was backing himself to get it done, while acknowledging that it was going to be really hard,” Yahoo Sports national columnist Dan Wetzel told me in a telephone conversation this week. “For a long time, he wasn’t even saying where the fight was going to be. Now, it is different. He is extremely confident that this will come off. Say what you like about him, but Dana White makes things happen. He doesn’t like being told, ‘No.’ And public perception is not a real big concern of his.” Wetzel has known White for 15 years and was not surprised that the UFC chief found a way to power through all the tribulations. While some question the safety of bringing back live sports with the coronavirus still raging, Wetzel noted that MMA has some unique elements that make a return more workable. [STORY IMAGE 3] “If you list the sports that are easiest to do, golf is the easiest – you have maybe 80 guys spread over acres and acres, outside,” Wetzel added. “But UFC is in the mix. There are three people in the octagon, two fighters and a referee. Everyone else can be spread out. “I get that everyone thinks it is just about money, but there is definitely a part of (White) that just thinks that getting sports back is something that needs to be done, and that he’s the man to do it.” White doesn’t do things by halves. Aware that Saturday’s card is firmly in the spotlight, he ordered his matchmakers to stack it with appealing fights. Ferguson, riding a 12-fight winning streak, against Gaethje, one of the most entertaining action fighters in the organization, is a blockbuster main event. There is also a bantamweight title showdown between two-weight champion Henry Cejudo and former champ Dominick Cruz, while even the free-to-air undercard features popular athletes like Anthony Pettis, Donald Cerrone and Michelle Waterson. And then, the UFC plans to do it all again, with another card next Wednesday, and another on May 16. [STORY IMAGE 4] This period, and Saturday’s show in particular, will be an intriguing test case. There will be no live fans, but it is a very worthy pay-per-view boasting perhaps the deepest lineup in years, albeit lacking a megastar crossover name such as a Conor McGregor. There isn’t much else on, and it will be relentlessly promoted by ESPN, so numbers could be high, although counterbalancing that is the fact that many find themselves in uncertain financial circumstances these days. But White ploughs on regardless, with Saturday and what follows being the result of his refusal to press the pause button, no matter what. He knows there are plenty who question his approach, and even his sanity, and he really doesn’t care. “Nobody wants to be first, man,” White told Yahoo Sports. “Nobody wants to be first and take that chance.” Dana White does. This weekend, he will. [STORY IMAGE 5] Here’s what others have said ... Dana White (via Sports Illustrated): “I don't wanna die. I don’t have a (expletive) death wish. I'm not out there trying to kill myself. And I don't want to kill any of my employees or their families. It's not like we're running around with no plan. The thing is: Let's find solutions. How do we get back as close to normal as we could possibly get? A 15,000- or 20,000-seat arena with no fans isn't normal. A lot of things aren't normal going into this event. But we're trying to figure out how to make it as safe as possible. … Let me put it this way: We're gonna go so overboard making sure everybody is healthy and safe that I just don't see how we can possibly (expletive) this up. … My fighters and my employees have been told: If you're not comfortable coming back to work, you don't have to. It's not like we're in some dire financial situation, like that's why I'm pushing this.” Arash Markazi, Los Angeles Times: “White would like to stage another UFC event at the company’s training center in Las Vegas on May 23, but Nevada’s stay-at-home orders are in place through at least May 15. White submitted the same proposal to Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak as he did to DeSantis. It outlines the UFC’s plans to hold the events in a controlled environment, without fans, and with diagnostic swab COVID-19 tests and antibody tests administered to all fighters, corner people and officials upon arrival to one hotel that would house all essential personnel. ‘Everybody wants to be a part of this,’ he said. ‘I talked to Conor [McGregor] yesterday and he wants to fight there. Khabib [Nurmagomedov] came out and said as soon as Ramadan is over, he’ll be back training and he’ll be back this summer. All of our athletes are ready to compete. Hopefully this weekend kicks it off and we get everybody back and give the world some sense of normalcy.’” Marc Raimondi, ESPN: “While gym owners balance complying with new guidelines related to the coronavirus pandemic and helping fighters train, the athletes are looking for the best ways to prepare with fewer training partners than normal. That's one of the main storylines for UFC 249 — finding out which fighters were able to get the most out of their training during these unprecedented circumstances. Donald Cerrone, who faces Anthony Pettis on Saturday, expects cardio to be a major factor. ‘There's going to be a lot of early stoppages and not very long fights, people are going to get tired quick,’ Cerrone says. ‘I don't know what a lot of these guys are training, or what they're doing. ... Is everyone just training in their backyards, their garage, or wherever they can? I just don't know.’” [IN OTHER WORDS] - Baseball for breakfast: The early-morning telecasts of Korea Baseball Organization games are a reminder of the sport's long-treasured constancy and of what its absence has meant this spring, [The New York Times']( Kepner writes.]( - Germany's Bundesliga returns next weekend — without fans, of course. [At The Mirror, Dave Prentice wonders]( what those unusual circumstances might mean for home advantage. - It’s the final countdown: FOX Sports Digital has been nominated for 3 Webby Awards for our coverage of the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, and we need to rally in [the voting for our daily Twitter show, Women’s World Cup NOW.]( Voting is open until midnight ET tonight! [THE INTERNET IS UNDEFEATED] [THE INTERNET IS UNDEFEATED]( It doesn’t get much more 90s than this — a young Kobe Bryant, busting his best move, with what appears to be a pager on his hip. Like Kobe’s former teammate, Caron Butler, this video brought a smile to our face on this Thursday with a few moments of pure joy. We hope it can do the same for you, too. [VIEWER'S GUIDE] NFL on FOX Schedule Release Show (FOX Sports social platforms, 9 p.m. ET) Hang out with Charissa Thompson, Colin Cowherd, and Mark Schlereth as the 2020 NFL Schedule is released this evening! FOX Sports: The Home Game (FS1, 7:30 p.m. ET) It’s coach vs. coach tonight, as Jimmy Johnson goes up against Urban Meyer in a test of sports and pop culture trivia, hosted by Chris Myers. Patrick Ewing on Michael Jordan & The Dream Team ([FOX Sports YouTube]( NBA Hall of Famer and Georgetown head coach Patrick Ewing sits down with Andy Katz to share his perspective on the Dream Team, reminisce about his Knicks’ rivalry with Jordan’s Bulls, and reflect on the adversity Georgetown basketball faced this season. [BET OF THE DAY] [BET OF THE DAY] Odds provided by [FOX Bet]( UFC 249: 5 most popular wagers Cejudo to beat Cruz: -188 Ferguson vs. Gaethje to end inside 60 seconds: +1400 Pettis to win in rounds 1-3: +210 Esparza to beat Waterson: -143 Every main card fight to end in round 1: +35000 Fight fans are hyped for this weekend — and so are those looking to get a little sweat on themselves. According to our insights, UFC 249 is shaping up to be one of the most wagered-on MMA events in recent memory. So on that note, we wanted to share with you the five most popular wagers for Saturday night. Apparently, people agree with Cowboy that cardio could be a major factor, as the main event ending in less than a minute and every main card finishing in the first round are particularly action-heavy markets at the moment. A new FOX Sports app and website is coming. [Click here]( to be notified when the reimagined app is available. [WHAT THEY SAID] “Just keep going. Everybody gets better if they keep at it.” — Ted Williams [FOLLOW FOX SPORTS] [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [YouTube]( [Instagram]( Download the FOX Sports app for live scores and streaming [App Store]( [Google Play]( Available on: [tvOS] [Roku] [fireTV] [androidtv] [XBOX] [Google chromecast] [tvOS] [fireTV] [androidtv] [XBOX] [Google chromecast] Forwarded this message? [Sign up](. 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