14 March 2020

UFC President Dana White takes advice from Donald Trump and insists fights will go ahead

UFC President Dana White has assured fans that he is following the advice of Donald Trump and mixed-marital arts bouts will continue amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking to ESPN's SportsCenter, White said: "I talked to the President and the Vice President today about this, and they're taking this very serious.

"They're saying be cautious, be careful, but live your life and stop panicking.

"Everybody is panicking and instead of panicking, we're actually getting out there and working with doctors and health officials and the government to figure out how we keep the sport safe and continue to put on events."

White says he is following advice from Donald Trump (PA Images)

The next UFC fight between Kevin Lee and Charles Oliveira is scheduled for Saturday March 14 in Brazil but will be taking place behind closed doors due to the virus.

"Yesterday the governor of Brazil issued a decree limiting the size of public events so we will do our event live from Brasilia on Saturday, and we're going ahead with it," said White. 

"We can't have over 100 people there, so we'll just have staff that's running the event inside the arena that night."

The best videos delivered daily

Watch the stories that matter, right from your inbox