UFC’s Fight Island Matches All Booked
Yas Island in Abu Dhabi has been rebranded as UFC Fight Island. Photo by: Ghassan Mroue (Wikimedia).
There’s something that just seems appropriate about a combat sport like UFC being held on a private island. And that’s exactly what UFC founder Dana White will unveil on July 11th when the promotion launches its first live card of MMA action from Yas Island in Abu Dhabi.
The first of four closed-door events – meaning no spectators allowed – will be UFC 251. Other live UFC cards will follow from the island on July 15th, July 18th, and July 25th.
Dubbed Fight Island, the matches will be contested in conjunction with the Department of Culture and Tourism (DCT) of Abu Dhabi.
COVID-19 guidelines will be followed to allow the bouts to take place. Social distancing rules will be in effect everywhere except between the two combatants inside the octagon.
All participants – fighters, corner people, judges, officials, and organizers – must arrive in Abu Dhabi well ahead of time. They will be required to undergo quarantine and all will be tested for COVID-19. If the test comes back positive, they won’t be permitted on the island.
Some 2,500 people will be contained on the island during the month-long UFC activity there.
The promotion first came to Abu Dhabi in 2019 for UFC 242.
“We showed great success with 2019’s event, so it was easy for the UFC to choose Abu Dhabi as the location for Fight Island,” Ali Hassan Al Shaiba, executive director of DCT, told TimeoutDubai.com. “The government has done a great job managing the effect of Covid-19. (We will) show the world that Abu Dhabi is a safe place to visit.
“We’re excited that they chose Abu Dhabi. This event has been planned for two months. They asked us if it was possible and we said, ‘yes’.”
UFC 251 Card
Three world title belts will headline an all-star card for UFC 251, which was originally scheduled for April 9th but has been on hold ever since due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The main event is pitting welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman, in defense of his title against Gilbert Burns. In the UFC betting lines, Usman is established as the -190 favorite.
Known as The Nigerian Nightmare, Usman defeated Tyron Woodley at UFC 235 to win the title. His first successful title defense came against Colby Covington at UFC 245.
Usman is 16-1 lifetime. Challenger Burns is the No. 1 welterweight contender. He’s won six in a row and defeated Woodley in his last bout.
There’s also a featherweight title rematch slated between champion Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway. Volkanovski scored a unanimous decision over Holloway to take the belt at UFC 245. He’s 21-1 and has won 18 fights in a row dating back to 2013.
Holloway is 21-5 but has lost two of his last three bouts. He’d been on a five-year unbeaten streak prior to his stumble last year.
He held the featherweight belt from 2016-19. As well, Holloway unsuccessfully challenged champion, Dustin Poirier, for the UFC world lightweight title.
Petr Yan and Jose Aldo will clash in a title fight for the vacant bantamweight crown. It’s the first title fight for Yan, 14-1, and riding a nine-bout winning streak. He’s won four of his last seven fights via knockout.
A three-time former featherweight champ, Aldo is 28-6. He’s lost two straight and four of six fights. Since 2015, he’s 3-5 in the octagon.
Also on the main card, Rose Namajunas and Jessica Andrade face each other in a women’s strawweight bout. Both are former UFC world champs of this weight class.
Namajunas lost the world title to Andrade in her last bout via a second-round knockout. Andrade lost the title to Zhang Weili via TKO in her most recent fight.
July 15th: UFC Fight Night 172
A bout between featherweight contenders Calvin Kattar (No. 6) and Dan Ige (No. 11) is listed as the headliner for the card but it might not be the most intriguing fight on the night.
Former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar will make his bantamweight debut against Pedro Munhoz. This bout was moved back from an original placing as part of UFC 251 to offer it more prominence.
Edgar (23-8-1) has lost three of his last four fights, leading to the change in weight class. Munhoz (18-4) was also a loser in his previous bout.
July 18th: Benavidez-Figueiredo II
A rematch of their Feb. 29 bout in which Deivison Figueiredo defeated Joseph Benavidez via second-round TKO will headline this UFC Fight Night card. That bout was meant to crown a new flyweight champion. However, Figueiredo failed to make weight by 2.5 pounds for the contest, so the title wasn’t up for grabs.
After their first fight, Benavidez suggested that he’d been the victim of an accidental head butt. Figueiredo insisted that this wasn’t the case. After the bout, both fighters campaigned for a rematch.
July 25th: Whittaker vs. Till
Headlining this UFC Fight Night is a middleweight scrap between former champion Robert Whittaker and Darren Till. Bouncing between welterweight and middleweight, Till lost to Woodley in a 2018 welterweight world title bout.
Whittaker was a middleweight champ from 2017-19. He was first New Zealand born fighter to hold a UFC world title.
Also slated for this card are a pair of light heavyweight fights between Mauricio Rua and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, as well as Alexander Gustafsson against Fabricio Werdum.
Gustafsson has fought four times for the UFC light heavyweight title belt.