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Dana White says he wants UFC in Texas 'ASAP' after governor ends mask mandate

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Tuesday he is re-opening the state and lifting the state-wide mask mandate. It did not take long for Dana White to express an interest in returning to the state.

During the UFC 259 press conference, White confirmed that he has started looking into holding events in Texas, specifically Dallas and Houston. Dallas reportedly declined, while Houston remains a possibility:

White's comments:

As soon as the governor of Texas said that, I called. Dallas said no and I'm working on Houston, so see if we can get Houston done. I want to go to Texas ASAP. I'll go in the next two, three weeks. I'm ready to roll. We'll be first, we'll open this thing up, we'll sell it out and be on our way.

Soon after, White was also asked about the possibility of moving previously planned events to Texas, specifically UFC 260 scheduled for March 27 in Las Vegas. He said such a move is possible:

We'll see what happens. I'm ready to go. I'd move [UFC 259] if we could. I told everyone when this opened up, that I would be first.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the sports world back in March, White has pushed to hold events at every turn. He initially refused to cancel events at the beginning of the pandemic back in March, then started holding events in Jacksonville as early as May when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis opened the state to live sporting events.

Since the end of last May, White's UFC has alternated between hosting events at the promotion's Apex arena in Las Vegas and in Abu Dhabi. The UFC began allowing fans in at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi in January, and it looks like White is now trying to do the same in Texas.

Houston has hosted six UFC events in the past, most recently UFC 247 last February.

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