A stretch of nearly 7 miles of Yas Island in Abu Dhabi has been cordoned off and set as the “safe zone” for the UFC’s four events this month at “Fight Island.”
This zone will be in place for the next several weeks, including Saturday’s UFC 251 event, as well as three more events through July 26. The zone will only be accessible by UFC personnel, event staff and Yas Island employees.
According to a release, all event staff members have been in quarantine in their hotel rooms since June 19 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All have been tested during that period. A crew of 740 people put together the venue and safe zone area. Those crew members then left the zone, which was sanitized before the rest of the staff members and UFC personnel arrived.
An indoor venue being billed as “Flash Forum” will hold the fights. Anyone entering that area will go through a “mist tunnel” that will sanitize everyone and according to the release will kill 99 percent of surface bacteria. No fans will be in attendance, and masks are required for non-fighters.
“Over the past two weeks, we’ve been very busy building a safe and secure zone to bring UFC back to Abu Dhabi and, in turn, kickstart international sport and entertainment events again,” stated Ali Al Shaiba, executive director of tourism and marketing for DCT Abu Dhabi. “The area of the ‘safe zone’ aims to ensure we can provide a secure environment to host elite sport, but also protect our wider Abu Dhabi community.
“This event is important to us for many reasons as it allows us to begin the process of bringing back sports and tourism to Abu Dhabi. It signals our readiness to once again host international events and provides us with a learning opportunity to improve and adapt, and efficiently prepare for the scheduled events ahead of us this year.”
After Saturday’s UFC 251, three other events are set for Yas Island on July 15, July 18 and July 25.
