Fight Island
Coordinates24°30′04″N 54°36′34″E / 24.5012°N 54.6095°E / 24.5012; 54.6095

Fight Island is a series of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) mixed martial arts events held on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates in 2020 and 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dana White stated that the events were intended as a workaround for travel restrictions tied to the COVID-19 pandemic, which had been preventing some international fighters from entering the United States. White initially referred to the proposed site as a "private island" or "fight island".[1][2]

Until 2021, all Fight Island events were held behind closed doors in the du Forum; a bio-secure bubble was established, which consisted of a "safe zone" comprising hotels, training facilities, the beach, and restaurants.[3] All participants and staff were required to test negative for SARS-CoV-2 multiple times before traveling to or entering the bubble, and individuals entering the arena were required to go through disinfecting "mist tunnels".[4] As the events were closed to the public, they were scheduled for U.S. primetime hours rather than local time, with UFC 251's preliminaries beginning at 2:00 a.m. Gulf Standard Time.[5]

John Oliver suggested on Last Week Tonight that the name "Fight Island" was inspired by a suggestion made by a TMZ reporter one week before the trademark was filed.[6] Shortly after Oliver had suggested various alternative names for the island including "UF-Sea",[7] Zuffa registered "UFSEA" as a trademark.[8]

Beginning with UFC on ABC: Holloway vs. Kattar on January 16, 2021, the UFC moved its Fight Island events to Yas Island's newly opened Etihad Arena, capped at 2,000 of its 18,000-seat capacity. They were the first UFC events open to the public since the onset of the pandemic.[9][10][11]

Events

Event Date Venue Ref.
UFC 251: Usman vs. Masvidal Jul 12, 2020 du Forum [12]
UFC on ESPN: Kattar vs. Ige Jul 16, 2020 [13]
UFC Fight Night: Figueiredo vs. Benavidez 2 Jul 19, 2020 [14]
UFC on ESPN: Whittaker vs. Till Jul 26, 2020 [15]
UFC 253: Adesanya vs. Costa Sep 27, 2020 [16]
UFC on ESPN: Holm vs. Aldana Oct 4, 2020 [17]
UFC Fight Night: Moraes vs. Sandhagen Oct 11, 2020 [18]
UFC Fight Night: Ortega vs. The Korean Zombie Oct 18, 2020 [19]
UFC 254: Khabib vs. Gaethje Oct 24, 2020 [20]
UFC on ABC: Holloway vs. Kattar Jan 16, 2021 Etihad Arena [21]
UFC on ESPN: Chiesa vs. Magny Jan 20, 2021 [22]
UFC 257: Poirier vs. McGregor 2 Jan 24, 2021 [23]
UFC 267: Błachowicz vs. Teixeira Oct 30, 2021
UFC 280: Oliveira vs. Makhachev Oct 22, 2022
UFC 294: Makhachev vs. Volkanovski 2 Oct 21, 2023

See also

References

  1. ↑ Steven Marrocco (2020-04-07). "Dana White's COVID-19 plan: Two months of weekly fights at UFC 249 location, a private island, and Joe Rogan". MMAFighting.com. Vox Media. Retrieved 2020-05-10.
  2. ↑ Brett Okamoto (2020-04-07). "UFC's White: Secured private island for fights". ESPN. Retrieved 2020-05-10.
  3. ↑ Robert M. (2021-05-13). "UFC Fight Island: Everything You Need to Know". Way of Martial Arts. Retrieved 2021-05-13.
  4. ↑ Ben Collins (2020-07-10). "UFC 251: 'Beautiful, surreal, insane' - what's Fight Island really like?". BBC Sport.
  5. ↑ Wagenheim, Jeff (2020-06-11). "What we know and don't know about 'Fight Island'". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  6. ↑ Last Week Tonight. HBO. 2020-05-31. Event occurs at 27:05. He only filed for the Fight Island trademark a week after a TMZ reporter suggested to him that he call it that.
  7. ↑ Cassandra Negley (2020-05-18). "John Oliver takes aim at UFC's 'Fight Island'; Dana White calls it 'selective facts'". Yahoo Sports.
  8. ↑ "UFSEA". 2020-05-19. Archived from the original on 2020-12-14. Retrieved 2020-12-14. Serial Number: 88924037, filing Date: May 19, 2020, Owner Name: Zuffa, LLC Owner Address: 6650 South Torrey Pines Drive Las Vegas, NEVADA UNITED STATES 89118
  9. ↑ "Etihad Arena lists official COVID-19 safety measures for fans at January UFC Fight Island shows". MMA Fighting. 2021-01-10. Retrieved 2021-03-13.
  10. ↑ Staff (2021-01-07). "Fans are back: UFC will have 'limited' attendance at three-card 'Fight Island' stint at Etihad Arena". MMA Junkie. Retrieved 2021-01-07.
  11. ↑ Newswire (2021-01-10). "Etihad Arena lists official COVID-19 safety measures for fans at January UFC Fight Island shows". MMA Fighting. Retrieved 2021-01-11.
  12. ↑ "UFC 251: Jorge Masvidal and Kamaru Usman make weight for title fight". www.sportingnews.com. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  13. ↑ Dawson, Alan (2020-07-15). "The Kattar vs. Ige main event for the UFC's next 'Fight Island' card is so good it could be the Fight of the Year, an analyst said". businessinsideraustralia. Retrieved 2020-07-17.
  14. ↑ Alan Dawson. "An MMA veteran has one last shot at the UFC title but fights a guy who has already KO'd him once, and is determined to do it again". Insider. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
  15. ↑ Andreas Hale (2020-07-25). "What time is UFC Fight Night? Robert Whittaker vs. Darren Till TV channel, live stream schedule, odds". dazn.com. Retrieved 2020-07-25.
  16. ↑ Marc Williams (2020-09-14). "UFC schedule 2020: Every upcoming event including Israel Adesanya's UFC 253 fight in Abu Dhabi and Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Justin Gaethje". talksport.com. Retrieved 2020-09-14.
  17. ↑ Marc Williams (2020-09-14). "UFC schedule 2020: Every upcoming event including Israel Adesanya's UFC 253 fight in Abu Dhabi and Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Justin Gaethje". talksport.com. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
  18. ↑ Marc Williams (2020-09-14). "UFC schedule 2020: Every upcoming event including Israel Adesanya's UFC 253 fight in Abu Dhabi and Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Justin Gaethje". talksport.com. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
  19. ↑ Marc Williams (2020-09-14). "UFC schedule 2020: Every upcoming event including Israel Adesanya's UFC 253 fight in Abu Dhabi and Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Justin Gaethje". talksport.com. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
  20. ↑ Marc Williams (2020-09-14). "UFC schedule 2020: Every upcoming event including Israel Adesanya's UFC 253 fight in Abu Dhabi and Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Justin Gaethje". talksport.com. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
  21. ↑ Mike Bohn (2021-01-17). "UFC on ABC 1 post-event facts: Max Holloway's masterclass shatters all striking records". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2021-01-17.
  22. ↑ Jeff Fox (2021-01-20). "UFC Fight Night: Chiesa vs Magny fighter salaries, incentive pay & attendance". thesportsdaily.com. Retrieved 2021-01-21.
  23. ↑ Staff (2021-01-24). "UFC 257 - Conor McGregor KO at the hands of Dustin Poirier leaves lightweight division in limbo". eurosport.com. Retrieved 2021-01-24.
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