The imagery evoked by Dana White’s idea was undeniably intoxicating: An octagon perched amid swaying palm trees on a white-sand beach, waves lapping at the canvas while mixed martial arts fighters traded blows in the tropical sun.
A few months later, the project that came to be known as Fight Island is real and ready for competition.
While Fight Island is not exactly the idyllic scene evoked by its name, the octagon inside an air-conditioned arena on Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island also sits inside a bubble that seems highly unlikely to burst.
Photo: AP
“It’s the biggest thing we’ve ever undertaken,” White said. “I’m always of the mindset that there is a solution for every problem.”
The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented problem for modern professional sports, but White leveraged the UFC’s advantages in mobility and size to get back into full-scale competition much more quickly than other leagues and tours.
White said he never worried about whether he should keep staging shows, but only worried about where he would be allowed to do it and how he could do it safely.
The UFC went only eight weeks without competition before staging eight events in Florida’s Jacksonville, and Las Vegas, but White knew he that would quickly run out of US-based fighters if he could not find a venue less encumbered by travel restrictions.
So he partnered with Abu Dhabi’s government to create a fight oasis.
Rather than a deserted tropical paradise, Yas Island is a modern tourist destination with amusement parks, malls and a Formula One racetrack. Dozens of fighters and their camps have already traveled from around the world to Fight Island, where they are relaxing in luxury hotel rooms and training for their shows.
Fight Island is to host four UFC events in 14 days, starting with three championship fights at UFC251 today. Although the UFC is to return to Las Vegas next month, White told reporters that he believes the UFC will be back at Yas Island repeatedly this year, and perhaps beyond.
“Fight Island is indefinite right now,” White said.
“I love it there. On this trip, I’ll probably go looking at either houses or a condo to buy over there. Incredible restaurants, hotels. It’s a great place,” he said.
Roughly 16km2 of the island has been set apart as a “safe zone” for the roughly 2,000 people involved in the UFC’s production over the next three weeks. The locals went through a 14-day quarantine and everyone inside the safe zone has passed several COVID-19 tests.
The organization is following the same health and safety protocols that appeared to work splendidly over the past two months. The promotion has announced only a few positive tests, with minimal schedule disruptions and no significant outbreaks.
White said that he has significant advantages over his counterparts in charge of team sports. He has no more than 20 to 24 athletes in his shows, which are individual events largely run by a well-trained, veteran group of employees. The UFC even handles all television production of its own fights for ESPN and its international clients.
“Athletes that are involved in combat sports are more in tune to making sure they’ve got clean environments,” UFC chief operating officer Lawrence Epstein said.
“Whether it’s bacterial infections or other things that can happen if you don’t keep your space clean and don’t start with proper hygiene. We’re sort of used to being a little bit safer than everybody else, and also, our athletes are used to undergoing a tremendous amount of testing,” he said.
“I have 600 fighters under contract,” White said. “The NFL has God knows how many football players [nearly 2,000]. It’s so hard to control these people. They’re all grown adults. They can do what they want to do. I honestly don’t know how to give any of these other guys advice. For these other leagues, it’s more a financial problem than anything, a massive financial burden on sports leagues. Losing season ticket holders, concessions, parking, it’s devastating.”
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