The UFC has revealed the location of Fight Island and the busy fight schedule for that location.
On Tuesday, UFC president Dana White announced that Fight Island is Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. White also said the promotion will hold events there beginning with UFC 251 on July 11 and ending on July 25. Between those dates, the UFC will also stage fight cards on July 15 and July 18.
UFC 251 features three title fights at the top of the card. In the main event Kamaru Usman puts his welterweight crown on the line against friend and training partner Gilbert Burns. In the co-main event, Alexander Volkanovski faces the man he took the featherweight title from, Max Holloway. The third and final title fight sees Petr Yan and Jose Also compete for the bantamweight crown Henry Cejudo recently vacated upon his retirement.
The two fights opening the main card of UFC 251 are a rematch between former UFC strawweight champions Rose Namajunas and Jessica Andrade and a strawweight contest between Paige VanZant and Amanda Ribas.
UFC 251 is a pay-per-view card. The events on July 15, 18 and 25 are “UFC Fight Night” cards.
White spoke to ESPN about the set up of Fight Island, “Abu Dhabi has actually created this safety zone on the island within 10 square miles on Yas Island will just be inhabited by us. It will include an arena, hotels, training facilities for the fighters that are private, so the whole COVID-19 thing is covered. Dining establishments and yes, there is an octagon on the beach.”
