The UFC’s Fight Island is real, and it’s located in the Middle East.
UFC president Dana White revealed to ESPN’s First Take on Tuesday his mysterious Fight Island is located on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The island will help the company promote some of its international athletes who have a hard time entering the U.S. due to travel restrictions caused by the coronavirus.
The UFC will host four events on Fight Island next month, starting with a UFC 251 pay-per-view on July 11. UFC Fight Night cards will take place on July 15, July 18 and July 25.
The designated area of Yas Island that will make up Fight Island includes an arena, hotel, training facilities and dining establishments, per the UFC. It will also include a “safety zone” of 10 square miles, in which the only people permitted will consist of athletes, coaches, UFC staff and limited personnel.
A training Octagon will, in fact, be set up on the beach, as White claimed in a previous interview with ESPN.
The company has strong ties to Abu Dhabi, and specifically Yas Island, dating back its first live event there in 2010. Flash Entertainment, an Abu Dhabi entity, once held a 10 percent stake in the UFC, prior to the company’s $4 billion sale in 2016. The UFC has held three events at Yas Island, and just signed a five-year deal to hold annual cards there in 2019.
The most recent UFC event on Yas Island was UFC 242 last September, which was headlined by a lightweight title fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dustin Poirier.
The UFC was forced to postpone six scheduled events due to the coronavirus in March, April and May, but has returned to a consistent schedule since its return on May 9 in Florida. The company promoted three events in a span of eight days in Florida, and has since promoted two more over the last two weeks in Las Vegas.