UFC President Dana White Touts Abu Dhabi as Potential ‘New Fight Capital of the World’
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The Las Vegas-based promotion has held three events on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi in July and will conclude its month-long run there Saturday with UFC on ESPN 14. The timeline for the UFC’s return to “Fight Island” is unclear, but White expects numerous blockbuster matchups to occur at the venue.
“The shows that we bring here, this is the only international
destination for fights,” White told
The National. “So all the biggest and the baddest fights coming
up that we have are going to be here.
“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. 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.”
As of now, the UFC is expected to return to the UFC Apex in Las Vegas for a string of events beginning Aug. 1, but with so many international champions, White claims that some of the organization’s biggest upcoming fights will likely be in Abu Dhabi. That includes reigning lightweight king Khabib Nurmagomedov, who is supposed to face Justin Gaethje, and the middleweight title showdown between Israel Adesanya and Paulo Henrique Costa at UFC 253 in September.
“Khabib will be the next. We're talking about [middleweight champion] Israel Adesanya versus Paulo Costa, that fight happening. [Women’s strawweight champion] Weili Zhang versus Rose Namajunas is a possibility. All the massive, big fights with literally the champion versus the No. 1 contender are all looking like Fight Island Abu Dhabi,” White said.
Conor McGregor, who announced his retirement for a third time earlier this year, would also be marked for “Fight Island” should he decide to return to the Octagon in the near future.
“Everybody keeps asking me about Conor. He's retired right now,” White said. “He and I have not talked. I don't know. Obviously, if Conor comes back and wanted to fight, Fight Island is where he would be. So, yeah, he would be here in Abu Dhabi.”
More big plans could be in store in the coming years for “Fight Island,” including a relocation of International Fight Week. That annual event typically takes place in Las Vegas in July but was canceled due to COVID-19. According to White, Abu Dhabi provides an attractive alternative destination.
“[Fight Island] was our Thrilla in Manila, Rumble in the Jungle. Where the place that the fight was was as big or bigger of a star as everybody that was fighting on the card. So we made history here,” he said. “That Octagon on the beach should sit there for ever; that should be something that fight fans come and see for ever. We're talking about doing International Fight Week here now on ‘Fight Island’ and having all these different events here the week of the fight. And we're thinking about all these different things now that we can do, that would be a yearly event.
“I know for a fact that I've never done anything harder than this. I don't know if there'll ever be anything that we've accomplished in almost 20 years of doing this that was bigger than what we've done here.”
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