Dana White has denied rumors of UFC staff being laid off during the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic.
After news emerged that Endeavor, which owns the UFC, has laid off 250 staff members, a story in Variety claimed the UFC also has let go of staff, which UFC president White said is not true.
White said no UFC staff members have lost their jobs during a live video on his Instagram feed and went off on the journalist who he claimed was reveling when delivering the news. The story has been amended since then to remove the UFC reference.
“(Wednesday), this scumbag posted a story that says ‘UFC hit with layoffs,’ and he was literally gloating about it,” White said. “First of all, it’s not true. I’m going to tell you guys again: Most of what you read is not true. Literally these scumbags write lies and this guy was gloating about it and saying stuff like, ‘Hey Dana, you have bosses now. You should check with them before you whatever.’ No I don’t. You don’t know anything about this (expletive) situation, and you definitely know nothing about the sport, you jerk off.
“And for somebody who’s supposed to be a reporter to be gloating about people losing their jobs … I said it before, you piece of (expletive): Nobody will lose their job at the UFC. Nobody is getting laid off. It’s not gonna happen. The other side of Endeavor laid some people off. I’m not laying anybody off. It’s not gonna happen.”
White recently revealed the UFC 249 card headlined by lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson on April 18 likely will be rearranged to feature some fights from other postponed cards while the promotion finalizes a new location.
