White not surprised by backlash amid pandemic: MMA media 'the wimpiest people'

UFC president Dana White isn't surprised by the backlash the promotion has gotten - particularly from the MMA media - for its approach to the coronavirus pandemic.

The UFC was one of the last major sports organizations to shut down operations in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. The company hosted a fight card behind closed doors in Brazil last weekend, and it wasn't until the CDC recommended gatherings of no more than 10 people that the UFC postponed its next three events - between March 21 and April 11.

"Go online and look at some of these people - and this isn’t a knock, this is just a fact: The weakest, wimpiest people on Earth cover the biggest, baddest sport on Earth," White said Thursday on Instagram Live. "What do you expect them to say? What do you think they’re gonna say?"

White added: "Listen, the media can talk as much shit as they want. They don’t feed families. They don’t take care of fucking 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 as medical testing goes and everything. That's all we f------ do. That’s nothing new. We were doing that shit way before the coronavirus."

White has remained adamant that the UFC will be able to resume operations in time for the Khabib Nurmagomedov-Tony Ferguson lightweight title bout on April 18. However, the UFC confirmed earlier this week the fight will no longer take place in Brooklyn as originally planned.

"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 (UFC Apex).

"Every fighter that fights for me will fight three times this year," he continued. "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."