President Donald Trump is leaving the opening up of each state and county to state governors. Florida and Nevada have thus far taken radically different approaches where combat sports are concerned.
The WWE Performance Center is in Orlando, and on April 9 Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a memo expanding the Essential Services exemption to shelter-at-home orders to a variety of businesses including “employees at a professional sports and media production with a national audience ... only if the location is closed to the general public.”
A spokesperson for the governor's office said that such services were essential "because they are critical to Florida's economy." So the WWE is back in business, as is the UFC if it wants to hold events in The Sunshine State.
The UFC APEX is in Las Vegas, and UFC president Dana White says he wants to host multiple events there in May (with no live audience). Top Rank boxing is reportedly interested in holding shows there are well.
However, Nevada State Athletic Commission’s executive director Bob Bennett explained to Steven Marrocco for MMA Fighting that it’s “premature” to comment on White's timeline.
“We will see what the data reveals based on the science of COVID-19 and move forward accordingly,” wrote Bennett, who said there could be an update at the start of May. “We are closed until further notice, and once again the data from the science will determine future events accordingly.”
Last month Bennett had planned to address the commission about potential processes to regulate MMA during the COVID-19 global pandemic, but that was shelved when Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak declared a state of emergency.
“This is not going to be a political decision for as to when to open,” said Sisolak on Thursday, as transcribed by Anton Tabuena for BE. “We’re going to take it slow and steady and listen to the doctors. ... I’m putting the lives of my fellow Nevadans ahead of any dollars. We will open when the time is right, when the experts tell me, and the data tells me that it’s okay.
“I cannot end the shutdown until we feel like we’re in a good position as it relates to the spread of the virus, the hospitalization. Some people are more concerned with the business side of this, than the human toll that this virus is taking. The human toll is the most important to me.”
“I do not know when that time [to begin a stepped reopening] is going to be. It would be unfair to you to just guess on a date. I won’t do that.”
White recently joined Trump’s advisory committee on restarting the economy.