Why the UFC and Dana White never considered canceling UFC 216 in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS – UFC President Dana White watched coverage of last week’s mass shooting in Las Vegas and knew what the company needed to do.

And it didn’t involve canceling Saturday’s UFC 216 event, which took place at T-Mobile Arena and marked the organization’s first show since the tragedy in their home city.

While some fans wondered if the Oct. 1 shooting – one that left 58 people dead and approximately 500 injured when a gunman opened fire on a concert crowd – would force a change, UFC 216 was never in jeopardy of being canceled. Now more than ever, White said, the show had to go on.

“You can’t let a coward determine how everyone else is going to live their life,” White said after UFC 216, where shooting victims, first responders and the Vegas community were all honored. “This kind of stuff is happening all over the world now. This is the world we live in.

“You just can’t back down to this kind of stuff.”

White said he’s spent the past week trying to make the sense of tragedy, including the shooter’s still-unknown motive.

However, while many outsiders don’t think of Vegas as an actual community, White, a longtime resident, said the terrible event brought out its best.

“I’ve been saying all week, I’m really proud of this city and how everyone has reacted to this thing – from the first responders to the people who were just there helping other people,” he said.

The UFC donated $1 million to the families of the victims, and other Vegas notables stepped up with contributions of their own. White said he wasn’t surprised, though people who live outside of Sin City might’ve been.

“Everybody thinks this isn’t a real community, but this is the realest community,” he said. “You find out who real people are when (expletive) goes wrong.”

Among the victims of the shooting who attended UFC 216 were two teenage girls who went to White’s kids’ school. They sat next to him cageside during the event.

White said he and other UFC employees knew many of the concert-goers who were caught up in the shooting, which only strengthened their desire to put on an appropriate event at UFC 216. He said the card’s fighters were all on board, too, and wanted to make it special.

“It was weird,” White said. “I got very little sleep (the night of the shooting), I woke up the next day, but it’s almost like I knew exactly what I had to do,” he said. “And I started (planning UFC 216).”

For more on UFC 216, check out the UFC Events section of the site.