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Fight Island location revealed, UFC book Miocic-Cormier for August

Yas Island, Abu Dhabi has been revealed as the location of UFC's 'Fight Island'.  The venue will...



Fight Island location revealed...
Other Sports

Fight Island location revealed, UFC book Miocic-Cormier for August

Yas Island, Abu Dhabi has been revealed as the location of UFC's 'Fight Island'. 

The venue will stage four cards - on July 11, 15, 18 and 25.

The first of those cards will be a pay-per-view - UFC 251, with the other three classified as Fight Nights.

Meanwhile, UFC president Dana White has confirmed that a third heavyweight meeting of Daniel Cormier and Stipe Miocic will headline a card on August 15.

A venue for that fight is still to be confirmed.

Cormier says it will be his last fight before retiring.

The 'Fight Island' project is a joint venture between UFC and Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi).

A press release states:

To accommodate existing public health guidelines, DCT Abu Dhabi will create a safety zone within the nearly ten square mile (25 km2) Yas Island that will include an arena, hotel, training facilities, and dining establishments. 

This safety zone will only be open to UFC athletes and their coaches; UFC staff and other event personnel; and Yas Island employees who are necessary to ensure the operation of the facilities.

UFC's most recent cards in the US have taken place behind closed doors.

The VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville became the MMA promotion's temporary home following a botched plan to stage UFC 249 on native land.

More recently, UFC 250 took place in Las Vegas.

White this week compared his scrapping for venues during a pandemic to the Black Lives Matter protests happening across the world.

The UFC president told AZ Central, "It’s like when I wanted to come back and have fights in the pandemic. I could have gotten all 350 of my employees, and we could have walked up and down the street and chanted ‘we wanna fight!’ That’s not what we did.

"We got out and told our story in the media and worked with politicians. That’s how you make real change."

White said of the Yas Island project, "The infrastructure we are building will be such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the fighters that’s never been done before – from the arena, the private training facility and the Octagon on the island – it’s going to be an experience that none of us will ever forget.

"I can’t wait to deliver amazing fights from Yas island."

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Abu-dhabi Dana White Daniel Cormier Fight Island STIPE MIOCIC Ufc Yas Island