Bob Bennett says Nevada commission won't authorize fights in state until experts say it's safe
Bob Bennett, the executive director of the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC), told Yahoo Sports on Wednesday that several boxing and MMA promoters have approached the commission about staging fight cards in Nevada in a closed studio as the coronavirus pandemic drags on.
Bennett, though, said he’s not sure when that will occur.
On Tuesday, UFC president Dana White told Variety that he wanted to produce events at the company’s Apex facility in Las Vegas beginning in May while the pandemic continued.
Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak’s shelter-in-place order extends through April 30. But Bennett said that Sisolak had given the NAC the authority to make determinations on its own.
Bennett said nothing is imminent.
“I can tell you that the Nevada Athletic Commission is going to listen to the doctors, the scientists, all the experts before making any decision [about when to allow fights in the state],” Bennett told Yahoo Sports. “One of the things that I always say is that everything we do is about the health and safety of the fighters. That’s still true, but now I have to extend that to make it about the health and safety of my staff, of the production crew, the officials, our referees and judges and any of the people who would need to be involved to put an event on.
“Once we get that word, then our chairman, Anthony Marnell and the commissioners will decide when it is appropriate for us to go forward [regulating combat sports events].”
On Tuesday, White announced that UFC 249 will be held on May 9, but there is no location for it. The card will be headlined by three title fights and could be one of the deepest cards the promotion has ever put together.
Later, in an email statement released to Variety, White spoke about doing events at Apex, which is on the UFC campus in Las Vegas.
We built the APEX facility next door just in time to save the day from this pandemic. Live fights will be produced out of there starting next month and for the foreseeable future.
Bennett said the UFC is one of only several promoters who have reached out to the commission about events in the state. Top Rank has already spoken with UFC officials about using Apex to produce boxing cards. White told Yahoo Sports he didn’t object but that any other promoter looking to use Apex at this point would play second fiddle to the UFC’s needs.
Bennett said he’s as eager as anyone to get back to work.
“The governor’s order extends through the end of the month, so when we get to that point, we’ll see what the situation is on the ground and what we can do about running some cards,” Bennett said. “But we’re not at the point yet where we can really make a decision or any kind of an announcement yet.”
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