.White confident that "UFC Fight for the Troops" event coming to Afghanistan
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – When UFC president Dana White first mentioned earlier this month that a forthcoming UFC event will likely take place in the war-torn country of Afghanistan, there appeared to be more questions than answers surrounding the logistics of how to pull off such a feat.
Questions still remain, but following today's press conference promoting Saturday's "Aldo vs. Faber" event, White said he's "very confident" the UFC will pull it off.
"We actually want to go right into Afghanistan and put on an event in the middle of all the [expletive]," White said. "It's going to happen. ... Anything can happen if you want it to happen bad enough."
Afghanistan, of course, has been a constant war zone since the U.S. military first launched Operation Enduring Freedom in 2001.
White said he can't pinpoint exactly when the promotion would visit the country. Truthfully, it's not completely up to him to decide.
"We're working on it right now, and it's so crazy," White said. "It's going to be so freaky that they can't tell us exactly when and where it's going to be. The military is going to let us know when we can do it.
"It's going to be crazy, man. We're going to go right into the middle of this thing and put on an event."
While a number of UFC athletes have shown overwhelming support of our nation's armed forced in recent times, traveling to an active battlefield to hold an event might test even the toughest fighter's resolve. White said he has yet to approach any of his athletes regarding their desire to compete on the card, but one UFC employee did express some shock at the idea.
"(Joe) Rogan was like, 'Oh, [expletive]; we're going to do what?'" White told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "But I'm excited for it. I do love the troops."
White said that similar to "UFC Fight for the Troops" in 2008 and "UFC Fight Night 7: Sanchez vs. Riggs" in 2006, the event in Afghanistan would be attended solely by military personnel. And as White expressed when he first mentioned the show as a possibility, the fights might not ever make it to television.
"The question that we're wondering is, 'Can we shoot this thing? How do we do it?'" White said. "We're going to chopper in there at night. It's going to be [expletive] crazy."
White said the UFC also plans on hosting an event on a U.S. military base again before the end of the year, as well. While that show of support will undoubtedly be welcomed by the troops the prospect of taking the UFC to Afghanistan represents a potentially historic night.
Historic and dangerous.
"What we're trying to do is fly in, set this thing up as fast as we can, put on an event, and get the [expletive] out," White said. "The question is can we get the equipment in and make it happen.
"You think, 'Oh, well if they do it on the base?' But these guys are getting attacked over there all the time. They're getting attacked, and there's a lot of casualties coming out of Afghanistan right now. Hopefully, we're not one of them."
MMAjunkie
Questions still remain, but following today's press conference promoting Saturday's "Aldo vs. Faber" event, White said he's "very confident" the UFC will pull it off.
"We actually want to go right into Afghanistan and put on an event in the middle of all the [expletive]," White said. "It's going to happen. ... Anything can happen if you want it to happen bad enough."
Afghanistan, of course, has been a constant war zone since the U.S. military first launched Operation Enduring Freedom in 2001.
White said he can't pinpoint exactly when the promotion would visit the country. Truthfully, it's not completely up to him to decide.
"We're working on it right now, and it's so crazy," White said. "It's going to be so freaky that they can't tell us exactly when and where it's going to be. The military is going to let us know when we can do it.
"It's going to be crazy, man. We're going to go right into the middle of this thing and put on an event."
While a number of UFC athletes have shown overwhelming support of our nation's armed forced in recent times, traveling to an active battlefield to hold an event might test even the toughest fighter's resolve. White said he has yet to approach any of his athletes regarding their desire to compete on the card, but one UFC employee did express some shock at the idea.
"(Joe) Rogan was like, 'Oh, [expletive]; we're going to do what?'" White told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "But I'm excited for it. I do love the troops."
White said that similar to "UFC Fight for the Troops" in 2008 and "UFC Fight Night 7: Sanchez vs. Riggs" in 2006, the event in Afghanistan would be attended solely by military personnel. And as White expressed when he first mentioned the show as a possibility, the fights might not ever make it to television.
"The question that we're wondering is, 'Can we shoot this thing? How do we do it?'" White said. "We're going to chopper in there at night. It's going to be [expletive] crazy."
White said the UFC also plans on hosting an event on a U.S. military base again before the end of the year, as well. While that show of support will undoubtedly be welcomed by the troops the prospect of taking the UFC to Afghanistan represents a potentially historic night.
Historic and dangerous.
"What we're trying to do is fly in, set this thing up as fast as we can, put on an event, and get the [expletive] out," White said. "The question is can we get the equipment in and make it happen.
"You think, 'Oh, well if they do it on the base?' But these guys are getting attacked over there all the time. They're getting attacked, and there's a lot of casualties coming out of Afghanistan right now. Hopefully, we're not one of them."
MMAjunkie
posted by madtom at 6:06 PM
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