Dana White says we’re less than a month away from seeing what “Fight Island” is all about.
The UFC president appeared on British boxing promoter Eddie Hearn’s “Talk the Talk” podcast and revealed his plans to launch live events on the still-secret island location are mere weeks from coming to fruition.
After initially telling Hearn that he was aiming for a July 25 start, White later corrected himself and said the debut for “Fight Island” would be at the end of June.
“The first fight on ‘Fight Island’ is probably going to be around June 27 – not July,” White said.
A fight card for that date is already taking shape with lightweight contenders Dustin Poirier and Dan Hooker currently scheduled to face off in the main event. The June 27 card also features a women’s bantamweight bout between Aspen Ladd and Sara McMann.
White’s much-vaunted plans for “Fight Island” events have captured the imagination of fight fans during the coronavirus pandemic, with much speculation over the location chosen for the events. Trademarks have been applied for, merchandise has been launched and White’s “Fight Island is real!” mantra has featured in many media spots over the past few weeks, as he repeatedly said that the plan is a legitimate one.
The UFC president said setting up the location and the facilities needed to host events at the mystery location has been a major undertaking for his staff.
“Let me tell you about ‘Fight Island,’” he told Hearn. “‘Fight Island’ is so (expletive) expensive, and so (expletive) crazy and almost impossible to pull off. When you’re talking about planes flying people in and you have to quarantine people and all these things that we’re going through – it’s (expletive) insane to be even trying to do this. But I promise you, we will do it and we will pull it off.
“I believe in doing this, it’s going to help grow the sport immensely. It’s going to help financially, and many different ways it’s going to help build the sport – and I just know that we can do it. But let me tell you how hard it is and how crazy this whole thing has been, man. While people were laying in their (expletive) pools enjoying the pandemic, I’ve been over here smoking my executive staff – burning these guys out, man. It’s crazy.”
Dana White says UFC aiming for 'Fight Island' debut on June 27
