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Fight week shake-up? Dana White says White House event may be pushed back
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- Fight week shake-up? Dana White says White House event may be pushed back
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Start time for UFC's White House event remains uncertain, Dana White hints at possible change
Dana White has said the start time for the UFC event at the White House could still be up in the air.
The organisation is heading to the South Lawn in a little over a month, set to host one of its most high-profile cards to date.
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The headline bout sees Ilia Topuria take on Justin Gaethje for the undisputed lightweight title. In the co-main event, Alex Pereira steps into an interim heavyweight title fight against Ciryl Gane.
Alex Pereira meets Ciryl Gane in the co-main event, with both fighters seeking to put themselves back into undisputed heavyweight title contention following recent setbacks.
Despite taking place at one of the most recognisable venues in sports history, fans have voiced concerns over various aspects of how UFC 306 is shaping up.
Photo by Kristina Bumphrey/Variety via Getty Images
The weather could impact the timing of the UFC White House event, according to Dana White
Dana White has been clear about the challenges involved in organising the UFC's White House event, pointing out that the weather is a key concern. His issues with hosting outdoor events are well known, mainly because the weather can be unpredictable.
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The only other time the UFC held an outdoor event was in Abu Dhabi, and White wasn't happy with it because of the heat and bugs. This time, he wants to be better prepared for whatever might come up.
The main issue for White is lightning. The military is helping by keeping a close eye on forecasts leading up to the fight night.
In a recent appearance on FOX News Channel's 'The Balance' with Lara Trump, he explained: "I hate outdoors, outdoors is just way too unpredictable and we've gone over this, and if it rains, we're going, if it snows, we're going, the only thing that will stop us is lightning," White said.
"But we're working with the military. So, the military knows the weather 10 days out, and they'll notify us every two hours 10 days out, 7 days out, and they'll notify us every hour. There's also another company that does it for concerts and things like that; they're very good, too.
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"So what could happen is, the only thing that kills us is lightning, so we can move the event two hours earlier, two hours later, so these are all things that we'll be playing with the week of the event on top of all of the other things we'll have going on," White continued.
The card features just seven fights, so even though it will be shorter than usual events, there may still be longer breaks between each bout, like at UFC Sphere. This setup should give them some flexibility to adjust as needed without too much disruption.
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