Dana White on ‘No Shows Happening for Two Years’ and Its Effects on the UFC: “We’re Going to Start to Feel That”

The pandemic dealt a huge blow to the MMA business. Shows got canceled for two months and after promotions came up with innovative ways to proceed, events had to go ahead behind closed doors. While revenues may have been affected, fighters also had to prepare for fights and train amidst the new normal. UFC President Dana White shared his thoughts on how the pandemic might have affected/will affect new talent in the promotion.

In a conversation with Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports, Dana White spoke about the new season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’. He said, “Yeah, it’s a good season. It’s a solid season. It started off a little rocky for me, you know. I didn’t love the first fight, but yeah, it turns right. You have to understand, too. Right now, we’re going to go through over the next couple of years are the effects of covid and no shows happening for two years.”

“We’re going to start to feel that.”

“Talent. As far as talent, the last two and a half years. All those fights before the world shut down. There were fights going on every weekend all over the world. … and then only MMA group that went through the thing was us. So you’re going to see an effect of up-and-coming talent over here.”

“We’re probably seeing it now and we’ll feel it for the next couple of years. Then, hopefully, everything gets back into full swing. But, yeah, I’m really happy with this season.”

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‘TUF’ season 30 happens to be team (Julianna) Peña versus team (Amanda) Nunes.

Is the talent pool a concern for Dana White?

When asked if the talent pool was a concern for him, White replied, “it’s not.” Owing to how big of a sport MMA is, plus athletes all around the world aspiring to become fighters, the UFC President is not concerned about falling low on talent.

As per him, it would be a ‘hiccup’. However, the UFC President is confident the promotion will get through it.

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Hence, it would be interesting to witness the kind of incoming talent the UFC sees in the next couple of years. What do you think?