Dana White Officially Announces ‘Fight Island’ Tripleheader, Including Edwards vs. Chimaev

Leon Edwards and Khamzat Chimaev are heading to Fight Island

The main event for Jan. 20 was revealed in a graphic on Dana White's Instagram Story. pic.twitter.com/QmRvOlBE9T

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) December 22, 2020

The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s next visit to Abu Dhabi is now official.

UFC president Dana White revealed Tuesday via Instagram the previously reported trio of events that will take place next month at the Flash Forum on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. The first UFC Fight Night at the venue will take place on Jan. 16 and is headlined by a featherweight clash between Max Holloway and Calvin Kattar. The ensuing event, also labeled as a UFC Fight Night, goes down on Jan. 20 and is topped by a welterweight duel pitting Leon Edwards against Khamzat Chimaev. Finally, UFC 257 concludes the busy week on Jan. 23 with a lightweight rematch between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier.

While it is possible that the Las Vegas-based promotion will hold more events in Abu Dhabi beyond those three during the upcoming trip, no others have been officially confirmed.

January will mark the UFC’s third visit to the venue since the COVID-19 pandemic forced the organization to adopt new protocol for holding events. The promotion initially held four events on “Fight Island” from July 11 to July 25 and then returned to Abu Dhabi for five more cards from Sept. 26 to Oct. 24.

In the past, White has touted Abu Dhabi as potentially surpassing Las Vegas as the new fight capital of the world. Already, Yas Island has played host to several major title bouts: Kamaru Usman vs. Jorge Masvidal (UFC 251); Israel Adesanya vs. Paulo Costa (UFC 253) and Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Justin Gaethje (UFC 254).

“If you look at our roster of champions, they’re from all over the world. So the biggest, baddest fights over the next God knows how long are going to be here in Abu Dhabi,” White said in July. “That’s why I’m saying Abu Dhabi is going to be looked at as the new fight capital of the world. It used to be Las Vegas. It definitely isn’t Las Vegas right now.”