UFC boss Dana White's planned "Fight Island" events will reportedly take place on one of Abu Dhabi's 200+ islands, where the country's quarantine laws will allow fighters to enter without self-isolating.
The location of the island where future fights will take place during the COVID-19 pandemic has remained a mystery since the UFC trademarked the "Fight Island" name at the end of April.
But UFC president White is thought to have secured the use of an outpost in the United Arab Emirates capital for an audacious plan that he has described as "almost impossible to pull off."
Abu Dhabi's relatively relaxed restrictions on international arrivals do not require visitors to enter isolation for 14 days, which White had described as one of the main challenges to his remarkable solution for hosting fights while other countries remain in lockdown.
Fighters and their entourages will be tested upon arrival and will be advised to enter self-quarantine until their test results are confirmed, avoiding the lengthy waits that could prove impractical during a UFC fight week.
Also on rt.com 'Expensive! Crazy! Impossible!' Dana White says UFC's 'Fight Island' will launch on June 27 (VIDEO)The UFC is yet to officially confirm the location of "Fight Island," but Abu Dhabi has been named by Brazilian outlet Globo, though the formal start date for events on the island remains unclear.
White had told boxing promoter Eddie Hearn on his podcast that the UFC would kick off its "Fight Island" events on June 27, but it is now believed that the first event may actually take place in early July.
Abu Dhabi has hosted UFC shows before, with Khabib Nurmagomedov defeating Dustin Poirier in his most recent lightweight title defense at UFC 242 last September.
The location also hosted two previous events, a UFC Fight Night event headlined by Roy Nelson and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, and UFC 112, which featured then-middleweight champion Anderson Silva against Demian Maia.
Also on rt.com Backyard brawls: Promoter Eddie Hearn reveals plans to stage boxing events in his BACK GARDEN (PHOTOS)Outlining his plans for further fights on the island in July, White called his workaround "f*cking expensive and so f*cking crazy."
"When you're talking about planes flying people in and you have to quarantine people and all these things that we're going through – it's f*cking insane to be even trying to do this," he added.
"While people were laying in their f*cking pools enjoying the pandemic, I've been over here smoking my executive staff. It's crazy."
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