The only thing dumber than a lot of the “Hawaii is lazy” remarks in this thread is the real reasons the UFC hasn’t come to Hawaii yet. I lived in Hawaii for 27 years before leaving last year. Hawaii has a rich martial arts tradition especially BJJ.
Reason # 1. These are the words of Enson Inoue
@Yamato Damashii from April 2018:
Just got word that the Hawaii Tourism Authority just shut down any chance for UFC Hawaii in the near future. A major reason was that the UFC would bring “bad” people to out islands.
I was so surprised and saddened to hear that MMA is still in this day and time being stereotyped as a “thug” sport and it would bring “bad” people.
I was a MMA fighter and I am now a fan of MMA and I am far from a thug.
Sad day for the fighters and fans of MMA in Hawaii.
Pure idiocy and stereotyping at its absolute finest.
Reason #2
Venue. The blaisdell is too small (6000 seats) the Stan sheriff center is also small (10,000 seats)and borderline dilapidated. That leaves Aloha stadium which also isn’t in the greatest shape but it can hold a big Crowd. Dana’s reason for avoiding the stadium is that it rains too much in Hawaii for an outdoor show.
It’s hard to disagree with him on the rain. Even if you covered the octagon like other shows have done, I believe K-1 did a show at the stadium, it would suck for the fans to get rained on.
There’s also another reason. I love Hawaii and always will, but it has a notoriously bad reputation for being a difficult place to conduct business. It sucks because the fans deserve it. Dana used to used the “cost” excuse. Then they started doing shows on every continent including Antarctica so it’s like, “Is it REALLY cost?” It’s a perfect storm of ineptitude is what it is.