Fight Island will take place on Abu Dhabi, with its first event being UFC 251.
It’s real, and it’s finally happening. For months there were several rumors and theories of when and where Fight Island would be held. All those questions were answered Tuesday morning when UFC President Dana White announced the debut of Fight Island on ESPN’s First Take with all the details.
Dana White provided additional info about "Fight Island" on @FirstTake, including UFC 251 card details, facilities and more. pic.twitter.com/mkCjU5WBsz
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) June 9, 2020
The Island is located on Yas Island in the middle east. The location will help the company promote international fighters who are having difficulties entering the U.S. due to travel restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
In his block buster announcement, we now know of four events that will be held on the Island. The first being the UFC 251 pay-per-view on July 11. It will be headlined by a welterweight bout between champion Kamaru Usman and Gilbert Burns. The card is stacked with other fights featuring a featherweight title rematch between Alex Volkanovski and Max Holloway and Petr Yan vs Jose Aldo for the vacant bantamweight championship.
Other events announced to take place on Fight Island will be Fight Night events that will happen on July 15, July 18 and July 25. Details for fights on those events will be announced soon.
A training Octagon will be set up on the beach, as White stated in the past with ESPN. The location includes an arena, hotel, training facilities and it will also feature a “safety zone”, for the athletes, coaches, staff and other personnel.
The last time the UFC was on Yas Island was last September for UFC 242, which featured Khabib Nurmagomedov submitting Dustin Poirier in the main event.
The news was shocking, but the location shouldn’t come to much of a surprise to MMA fans. The UFC made it’s debut in Abu Dhabi in 2010, and ever since its been a strong relationship between the two.
