The UFC will head back to Abu Dhabi, UAE on August 3, 2024 for a Fight Night event, promotion officials announced on Wednesday.
Abu Dhabi became the UFC’s home away from home during the coronavirus pandemic, with “Fight Island” (Yas Island) something of a stroke of marketing genius for Dana White and co. The promotion hosted nine shows in the country in 2020 and another four in 2021, before going back to a more regular touring schedule the following year.
The UFC last visited Abu Dhabi in October of 2023 for UFC 294, which saw Islam Makhachev finish Alexander Volkanovski with a head kick in its main event. In total, the promotion has made 16 stops to the country, with the first coming in 2010 with UFC 112.
No fights have been announced for this year’s Abu Dhabi visit. The company has not hosted a Fight Night event in the country since January of 2021, when back-to-back televised events on ABC and ESPN preceded UFC 257.
The UFC has slowly worked towards getting back on the road of late, with another planned Middle Eastern date in Saudi Arabia initially announced for March 2. That card was later shifted to the Apex in Las Vegas, with the company’s debut in Saudi Arabia still expected later this year, ahead of the Abu Dhabi date.
