UFC President Dana White has finally revealed the location of the his “Fight Island.”
There has been plenty of speculation about the whereabouts of Fight Island when White first said he had hired out an island location to host international fights amid the ongoing COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
On Tuesday, the news dropped that the mysterious venue is on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
The location will begin hosting international fights on 11 July, starting with UFC 251.
UFC 251 looks set to kick off life on Fight Island with a bang.
The fight card boasts three UFC title fights: Kamaru Usman vs. Gilbert Burns for the welterweight championship; Alexander Volkanovski vs. Max Holloway II for the featherweight title and Petr Yan vs. Jose Aldo for the vacant bantamweight belt.
Fights pitting Jessica Andrade against Rose Namajunas, and Paige VanZant vs. Amanda Ribas have also been announced for UFC 251.
The promotion has visited Yas Island before. In 2010, the location hosted UFC 112 and its two title fights between Anderson Silva – Demian Maia, and BJ Penn vs. Frankie Edgar.
UFC last visited Yas Island this past September for UFC 242, where Khabib Nurmagomedov successfully defended his UFC lightweight championship against Dustin Poirier.
When White broke the news to ESPN, he confirmed there were plenty of precautions in place to protect fighters, staff and local citizens from potential coronavirus infection.
“Abu Dhabi has actually created this safety zone on the island. Within 10 square miles will just be inhabited by us,” White said on ESPN First Take. “It’ll include an arena, hotels, training facilities for the fighters that are private — so that the whole COVID-19 thing is covered — a dining establishment, and yes, there is an Octagon on the beach.”