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It seems like we are one week away from getting an official target date for the first ever UFC “Fight Island” event.
Fight fans have been wondering how things are progressing with this entire “Fight Island” proposal since its creation back in April to combat COVID-19 schedule and travel restrictions. UFC president Dana White has been completely hush about the project over the past few months but is slowing starting to leak some interesting details.
During a media scrum for UFC on ESPN 9 on Friday (see it HERE), White told reporters that he will have a target date next week for the first ever “Fight Island” event. The UFC frontman also warned fans that the fantasy of “Fight Island” may actually trump the real thing.
“‘Fight Island’ is in a great spot. I’m not announcing where it is until – I think the fantasy of ‘Fight Island,’ I don’t want it to eclipse the reality of ‘Fight Island.’ The fans and the media have run away with this thing. We’re not saying anything about ‘Fight Island’ until we have some damn good images of ‘Fight Island.’
“I saw an ESPN plane flying in to the island (online) and stuff like that.I think people have this idea of tiki torches and me sitting in some huge throne watching the fights. It’s fun. It’s cool. But sometimes the fantasy eclipses the reality of it. I’ll have (a target date for it) next week.”
While White is trying to let all of us know that “Fight Island” may not be this grand idea that resembles something out of a Bruce Lee movie it’s hard to imagine anything else. The location has been kept private, the Octagon is being constructed on the beach, and White himself said he plans on staying on the island for the entire month of July.
Seems pretty amazing any way you look at it. I guess we’ll have to continue to play the waiting game until the fighters step off the plane and the action unfolds.
It is, however, a bummer to know that no tiki torches or presidential thrones will be part of the festivities.
UFC on ESPN 9 will take place later this evening (Sat., May 30, 2020) live on ESPN/ESPN+ from inside UFC APEX facility in Las Vegas, Nevada, and will feature a welterweight headliner between contenders Tyron Woodley and Gilbert Burns.
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC on ESPN 9 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the ESPN/ESPN+ “Prelims” undercard bouts at 6 p.m. ET, followed by the ESPN/ESPN+ main card start time at 9 p.m. ET.
For more UFC on ESPN 9 fight card news click here.