The UFC’s mysterious Fight Island is on track for a June 27 debut, according to promotion president Dana White.
On Wednesday, White appeared on boxing promoter Eddie Hearn’s “Talk the Talk” podcast, and let news of the Fight Island debut slip. Of course, the actual location of the island remains a mystery — just weeks out from its potential coming out party.
Initially, White had said July 25 would be the debut date. Later, he’d correct that. “I made a mistake earlier when I told you guys about Fight Island. The first fight on Fight Island is probably going to be around June 27, not July,” White said on the show.
White opened up a little about what many have pondered: the logistics of hosting fights, on an island, during a pandemic. “Fight Island is so f*cking expensive, and so f*cking crazy, and almost impossible to pull off,” he admitted. “When you’re talking about planes, and flying people in from other [places], and the restrictions— you have to quarantine people, and all these things that we’re going through. It’s f*cking insane to be even trying to do this. But I promise you, we will do it and we will pull it off.”
His motivation, added White, is the health of the sport. “And I believe in doing this, it’s going to grow the sport immensely, it’s going to help financially, in many different ways it’s going to grow the sport,” he stated. “But let me tell you how hard it is and how crazy this whole thing has been, man. While people were laying in their f*cking pools enjoying the pandemic, I’ve been over here smoking my executive staff. Burning these guys out, man. It’s crazy.”
