UFC boss White trying to keep open mind about company’s April return to Florida

The UFC has been all over the country and all around the world.

But if there’s one state that UFC President Dana White would probably be OK skipping, it’s Florida. It’s got nothing to do with the humidity, or the propensity for many of the state’s residents to go to dinner before 4 p.m.

It’s just that White hasn’t seen fans show up in droves for past UFC events in the state. So he can probably be forgiven for being a little nervous about the company going back there in April for UFC on FOX 11.

“How do I say this without pissing off the state of Florida? It wasn’t my decision,” White told MMAjunkie on Wednesday following UFC Fight Night 35 in Georgia. “A bunch of our guys got together and thought it would be great to go to Orlando.”

But White is willing to keep an open mind about the event, which takes place April 19 at Orlando’s Amway Center.

“I can tell you this: I’ve had a lot of good feedback, especially here tonight. I’ve had a lot of good feedback about Orlando, so we’ll see what happens,” White said.

UFC on FOX 11 will feature a heavyweight title eliminator between Travis Browne and Fabricio Werdum, plus a women’s bantamweight bout between recent title challengers Miesha Tate and Liz Carmouche. Browne vs. Werdum may wind up being the main event – if the UFC can’t put together a title fight to headline the card.

http://mmajunkie.com/2014/01/actually-fabricio-werdum-vs-travis-browne-may-be-ufc-on-fox-11s-headliner/

The UFC most recently visited Florida for UFC on FX 3 in June 2012 in Sunrise, a suburb of Fort Lauderdale. That show at BankAtlantic Center drew an announced attendance of 6,635 for a gate just north of 329,000 – an average revenue of less than $50 per ticket.

If White is so hesitant to go back to Florida, why do it? He said it has nothing to do with the FOX network making a request to be there. But, he said, there are times when FOX asks for certain days and locations, and the UFC does its best to oblige.

“We do as much as we can to help FOX with what they need,” he said. “Like doing these Wednesday night shows, they’re tough to pull off. But there’s times when it makes sense. There might be an issue where FOX says, ‘The Super Bowl is going to be in (New Jersey), we’d love to have you guys there, too,’ and I know there was another time when FOX wanted us in Boston for the launch, and times they’ve wanted us to go to Chicago. It’s back and forth.”

For the latest on UFC on FOX 11, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Dana White)