For years, UFC President Dana White has slammed the door shut on any possibility of holding an event in Hawaii without a suitable venue.
Speaking with reporters Tuesday, White gave a rare bit of hope for local UFC fans that the door could be slightly ajar.
Following an episode of “Dana White’s Contender Series” on ESPN+, White spoke about the efforts his organization has made to help the people of Maui following the deadly wildfires that destroyed most of Lahaina and claimed the lives of at least 115 people earlier this month.
He started out rehashing the reasons the UFC has never held an event in a place with a rich history of mixed martial arts dating back more than 20 years.
The lack of a suitable area bigger than the Stan Sheriff Center that isn’t outdoors and the cost to hold a fight without help from the Hawaii Tourism Authority have always been the first talking points about holding an event here.
“There are several issues with holding a fight in Hawaii for the UFC,” White said. “The arenas, the cost of doing an event in Hawaii — believe me, me and all of my staff would love to pack up and go to Hawaii for a week. It’s tough to do.”
But for the first time in years, White went on to say the company has had talks about trying to do something in Hawaii in the aftermath of the tragedy on Maui.
What this is, however, is anyone’s guess.
“We talked about that (Monday) too,” White said. “The stuff that is going on in Hawaii right now, I’m very supportive of Hawaii and the people and I’m kind of focused on that right now.”
“I’m working on other possible things with Hawaii as far as events go. Just nothing I can talk about right now.”
The UFC made “UFC loves Hawaii” t-shirts with a heart in place of “loves” and is selling them to help raise money for Maui. Fighters in Saturday’s UFC event in Singapore, including Max Holloway and Chan Sung Jung, wore those shirts during their walk to the Octagon.
White said they have sold more than $200,000 worth of shirts and believes they will get closer to $300,000, which he says would mean roughly $1.3 million in total they would donate. White announced the UFC would donate an additional $1 million to the relief efforts on social media on Aug. 12.
When that happens, White said he will fly to Maui to talk to whoever they decide to give the money to.
“Just like we did in Las Vegas when the shooting happened here, we’re trying to vet out right now how do we get money to the right people (and) who does it go?,” White said. “You don’t just send $1.3 million over there and say, ‘Hey, here you go, good luck everybody.’”
Holloway, a former UFC featherweight champion, paid tribute to Maui walking out in red for the first time for Saturday’s fight against Jung in Singapore.
He walked out to the song “Warrior of Love” by Fiji before knocking out Jung in the third round to improve to 21-7 in the UFC.
White said they have already discussed plans for Holloway’s next fight, which would be announced in the next couple of months.
He didn’t hint at what they have planned but did say it won’t be a fourth fight against current 145-pound champion Alexander Volkanovski.
“I just think that Volkanovski is so dominant right now,” White said. “There’s people that believe he beat Islam (Makhachev). I don’t know if you throw Max at him again at this point in Max’s career. I don’t love it.”
