With the UFC announcing a trio of events on Fight Island to kick off 2021, a number of recently reported fights have found a new home.
Among them, Carlos Condit vs. Matt Brown, Roxanne Modafferi vs. Viviane Araujo, and Ike Villanueva vs. Vinicius Moreira will join the UFC’s January 20 Fight Island card.
BJPenn.com’s Cole Shelton was first to report news of Condit vs. Brown changing dates (update: this fight was later moved to January 16), also revealing that per Brown, the previously scheduled event on January 30 likely isn’t happening. Ike Villanueva later confirmed that his bout had been moved, announcing the change via social media.
MyMMANews had previously reported the date change for Modafferi vs. Araujo.
Also on the move to January 20 is Pedro Munhoz vs. Jerome Rivera. Munhoz confirmed that date change on his official Instagram account recently.
The UFC’s third trip to Fight Island comes as the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic continues to hammer North America. Cases across the continent have continued to skyrocket, and although the promotion pulled off a number of shows in December, an increasing number of positives for COVID-19 and bout cancellations reflected the worsening situation stateside.
Hosting their first events of 2021 on Fight Island should give the promotion some breathing room. And it won’t hurt that a certain Irish star will return atop the final of those three events.
