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UFC president Dana White revealed the promotion’s “Fight Island” venue is located in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, and that it will host UFC 251 and three other events in July.

White said Tuesday that the venue and all necessary infrastructure and resources will be on Yas Island, a 9.7-square mile tourist destination that sits less than a mile from the Abu Dhabi International Airport. White added that UFC athletes, coaches, staff and personnel will be the only inhabitants of the island, and they’ll remain there at all times.



“Everything will happen on the island,” he said. “Nobody will leave the island. …

“They’re going to have their own private training quarters where people can train themselves. We really do have an Octagon (for training) out in the sand. The infrastructure’s gonna be unbelievable.”

UFC 251, set for July 11, will include three championship fights, headlined by a welterweight bout between challenger Gilbert Burns and champion Kamaru Usman. Additionally, featherweight champ Alex Volkanovski will defend his title in a rematch against Max Holloway, and Petr Yan will battle Jose Aldo for the vacant bantamweight belt.

Three UFC Fight Night events will follow on July 15, 18 and 25.

The UFC has held three previous events on Yas Island dating to 2010, including UFC 242 in September, in which Khabib Nurmagomedov retained his lightweight title against Dustin Poirier.

White announced in April he had “secured an island” to allow for fights with international competitors to continue despite restrictions on travel during the coronavirus pandemic. Five events were canceled between March and early May before the promotion returned with UFC 249 in Jacksonville, Fla., on May 9.



The other two main-card fights set for UFC 251 will be a women’s straweight battle between Jessica Andrade and Rose Namajunas and a women’s flyweight bout between Amanda Ribas and Paige VanZant.

Among the fights UFC is pursuing for the other events, White said, are Fabricio Werdum vs. Alexander Gustafsson, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Shogun Rua and Robert Whittaker vs. Darren Till.

White also announced Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier will fight for a third time on Aug. 15 at a yet undetermined location.

Cormier, 41, knocked out Miocic, now 37, at UFC 226 in July of 2018 before having the tables turned on him at UFC 241 in August 2019.

–Field Level Media (@FieldLevelMedia)