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Dana White has long been teasing the arrival of UFC Fight Island as his answer to holding events with international fighters unable to travel to the United States due to the coronavirus pandemic. In July, Fight Island will become a reality and we are now getting our first look.
The UFC boss took to social media to share a sneak peek at the setup for Fight Island which will feature a cage on the beach. UFC Fight Island will officially kickoff with UFC 251 on Saturday, July 11. But, before you get too excited, the fights for UFC 251 will not take place on the beach.
Instead, the cage on the beach is just being set up for fighters to train in when they are on the island with the official fights taking place in an arena, according to ESPN.com.
UFC Fight Island is located on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Check out the sneak peek of UFC Fight Island below.
UFC 251 will feature three title fights including Kamaru Usman vs Gilbert Burns for the welterweight title, Alexander Volkanovski vs. Max Holloway 2 for the featherweight championship, and Petr Yan vs. Jose Aldo for the vacant bantamweight title. The event will also include Jessica Andrade vs. Rose Namajunas and Amanda Ribas vs. Paige VanZant.
Following UFC 251, the Ultimate Fighting Championship will hold three other events on the island.
The UFC has also secured its own airline that will be flying fighters to and from the island as an additional safety measure against COVID-19.
Other events in July will include:
- July 11, 2020 — UFC 251: Usman vs Burns
- July 15, 2020 — UFC Fight Night: Kattar vs. Ige
- July 18, 2020 — UFC Fight Night: Figueiredo vs. Benavidez 2 — for the vacant flyweight title
- July 25, 2020 — UFC Fight Night: Whittaker vs. Till
