LAS VEGAS – The UFC’s official plan for the final quarter of 2020 is coming together.
At the DWCS 32 post-fight news conference Tuesday, MMA Junkie asked UFC president Dana White about the official timeframe of the promotion’s upcoming trip to ‘Fight Island.’
White confirmed the promotion is planning to kick off its sophomore residency with UFC 253 on Sept. 26, followed by three fight nights (presumably Oct. 3, Oct. 10, and Oct. 17), and capped off with UFC 254 on Oct. 24.
MMA Fighting was the first to report ‘Fight Island’ schedule on Friday.
White also reiterated the promotion is finalizing the next season of The Ultimate Fighter – a plan he’s mentioned in the past, even more so recently. However, this time, White seemed to indicate the wheels are officially in motion with hard dates in mind and meetings set.
“We’re going to ‘Fight Island,’” White said. “They all have these big plans on how we’re going to announce all this stuff. The Ultimate Fighter is coming back, too. I start filming that when I come back from ‘Fight Island.’ We’ve got the Contender Series. (There are) lots of things going on.”
White said the promotion has not determined who the coaches will be for The Ultimate Fighter, Season 29, but that the first “TUF meeting” will be held later this week.
As for the current season Dana White’s Contender Series, White confirmed the show will halt during the promotion’s ‘Fight Island’ tenure and return in November. That means next week’s DWCS 33 will be the last episode until White returns to American soil.
“(Contender Series goes) on hiatus, until I get back,” White said. “I’ll be (on ‘Fight Island’) the whole five weeks.”
One other unique detail White revealed was the timing of UFC 254, the promotion’s pay-per-view event headlined by UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagmedov and first-time challenger Justin Gaethje.
“It will be time-friendly (for Europeans),” White said. “… It will happen in the afternoon here (in the United States).
DWCS 32 took place Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and streamed on ESPN+.
Dana White dishes on UFC ‘Fight Island’ dates, The Ultimate Fighter return, and upcoming DWCS hiatus