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“I want to fight on the island, I want to train there…I want to live there!”
Valentina Shevchenko could barely contain her excitement with the announcement of Fight Island.
Although details are scarce, UFC president Dana White White is planning to use Fight Island as an alternative location for international UFC events during the coronavirus pandemic, with infrastructure likely completed by next month.
“All the infrastructure’s being built right now and getting put in place. As we get closer to that, then I’ll start figuring out booking fights, getting guys ready. Plus, I can ship guys over there earlier, and they can start training over there in the island,” White said.
Shevchenko, 32, is so excited by the news that the reigning UFC women’s flyweight champion is planning on training — and perhaps even living on — the private Island when the infrastructure is up and running next month.
“It’s such a great idea, from the first second I heard about it I was like, ‘I would definitely be there,’” Shevchenko told MMA Fighting’s Peter Carroll in a recent interview. “I want to fight on the island, I want to train there…I want to live there! I want to spend my time there, definitely.”
“I love to do my training camps in places that are more suited for the climate and if I have to fight on the island, why can I not train there?” the champion pondered. “It would probably be great to have a training camp there and then fight there…and then stay a little bit of extra time after to recover. How does that sound? For me, it sounds great!”
Shevchenko is currently recovering from leg surgery but is planning to return to the Octagon in August and would love for her comeback bout to take place on Fight Island.
“Yes, it could be,” Shevchenko replied when asked if she thought her next fight could take place on the UFC’s private island. “If this is a possibility, I would be more than glad to do the fight there, definitely.”
“This is what the doctors told me, the end of August, and I’ll probably have to rush things a little bit for that [to happen] at the end of August. I think that’s a real date for my return, it’s just that I have to work a lot.”
To listen to the full interview with Shevchenko, click here.