Imagine UFC Champion Jon Jones vs. Anthony Smith in the octagon in a bloody battle. Except, this time, the battle is not in Las Vegas, but on a private island owned by the UFC President, Dana White.
In a recent interview with TMZ, Dana White revealed that he’s literally” a day or two” away from closing out a deal for a remote island, where his UFC staff and fighters can hold matches during the coronavirus pandemic.
The way this scenario will work out, the UFC fighters will charter a private jet to the island where they’ll be isolated until fight time.
UFC fighter and personnel will undergo proper medical testing before they’re allowed to be admitted inside the facility.
Although White is only a day or two away from purchasing the remote island, he said it would be months before the island will hold any UFC fights.
The next event for White is UFC 249, scheduled for April 18, and according to White, it’ll take place in” secret location.” White also says the secret venue will host fights for two months, with a flight scheduled every week during the two months time frame before fights are moved to Fight Island.
As far as UFC 249 goes, a fight that was supposed to be between Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov switched to a battle between Ferguson and Justin Gaethje. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Nurmagomedov is Russian and was unable to leave because of pandemic travel restrictions, he revealed said via Instagram.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
” I understand everything, and I’m definitely upset more than you to cancel the fight, probably like all others, I had many plans after the fight, but I can’t control it all,” he said.
Nurmagomedov being in Russia amid the coronavirus travel restrictions, drew criticism from Ferguson and Conor MacGregor.
But, White said people should stop blaming Nurmagomedov because the situation was” out of his control.”