Sports
Dana White Says UFC to Use Both Las Vegas, ‘Fight Island’ for Foreseeable Future
Chris Unger/Getty ImagesDana White’s “Fight Island” isn’t up and running quite yet, but it’s already becoming a cornerstone for what the UFC may look like for the time being. Speaking with the media ahead of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Volkov, White said travel restrictions will limit the company to events at either its Apex…
Chris Unger/Getty Images
Dana White‘s “Fight Island” isn't up and running quite yet, but it's already becoming a cornerstone for what the UFC may look like for the time being.
Speaking with the media ahead of Saturday's UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Volkov, White said travel restrictions will limit the company to events at either its Apex facility in Las Vegas or Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
“We're going to be going back-and-forth to Abu Dhabi until the world comes back,” White told reporters, per Alexander K. Lee of MMA Fighting. “This is an international business, and most of our fighters are international. We have to put on so many international fights, or I'll end up smoking all the U.S. talent like that and we wouldn't be able to put on any events. We're going to be going back-and-forth to Abu Dhabi I'm assuming for a very long time.”
The first fight in Abu Dhabi, UFC 251, is set for July 11, with a welterweight title bout between Kamaru Usman and Gilbert Burns serving as the main event. The card also features Petr Yan, Jose Aldo and Max Holloway.
Four days later, Fight Island is scheduled to be back in action with UFC Fight Night: Kattar vs. Ige on July 15.
Yet even with the island getting ready to open, White is still concerned about what the future holds, both for his company and the fight against the coronavirus pandemic:
“All I do is sit around and strategize and try to plan and I'm planning for a second shutdown that will happen again. I'm always thinking about the worst. What's the worst thing that could happen? It's like when you hear these guys talking about when they train, they like to put themselves in the worst positions they can possibly be in. That's how I look at this business too. What's the worst position you could possibly be in? And my number one goal is I don't want to lay off any of my employees and I don't want fighters sitting inactive and not being able to compete.
“When you're a professional athlete, you have a very small window of opportunity, a very limited amount of time. We get into all this money s–t and all this stuff that's going on right now. Everybody acts like this is a f–king career. This is not a career, this is an opportunity. Anything can happen at any given moment. Your knee can blow out, your back, your this, your that. COVID-19. Who the hell knows what is coming down the pipeline. So you have to take every opportunity that you can get.”
For now, the UFC is taking the opportunity to continue operations solely at Yas Island and in Las Vegas, meaning the days of UFC events popping up across the globe have been put on hold indefinitely.
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