UFC Fight Island: Preparations the most rigourous ever seen for an Abu Dhabi event

As fighters, teams, and officials start arriving on UFC Fight Island, preparations are being finalised for one of the most talked about sporting events of the year. Four blockbuster events will take place on Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island from July 11 to 26, as the global coronavirus pandemic forces the UFC into drastic measures to keep their international fighters active. But what goes into putting on an event of this magnitude? On the ground, over 1,500 event personnel and Yas Island employees have been stationed within Yas Island’s ‘safe zone’ to employ strict COVID-19 precautionary measures. To ensure the safety of UFC staff, event personnel, Yas Island employees and the wider Abu Dhabi community, all attendees of UFC Fight Island have quarantined for 14 days at Yas Island hotels. This safety clearance serves as a precautionary measure that will ensure a risk-free safe zone and an enjoyable event for all. All UAE-based personnel and Yas Island support staff reported to Yas Island hotels in the past few weeks, following a complete and comprehensive sanitation of all hotels. Strict measures, including scheduled check-in times allowing for only four people at a time, were taken to ensure the utmost protection and security. View this post on Instagram This is the first look at the testing and infrastructure being built on Fight Island (Yas Island, Abu Dhabi). This experience is going to so BADASS for my fighters and my staff!!! #InAbuDhabi A post shared by Dana White (@danawhite) on Jun 30, 2020 at 8:43am PDT Following a 14-day hotel quarantine and a negative test result, individuals are now permitted to leave the hotel and move around Yas Island’s safe zone, now known as UFC Fight Island. The zone sits within roughly 11 km on Yas Island and includes the venue, the hotels, the training facilities and the dining establishments. Only UFC athletes and their coaches, UFC staff and event personnel, along with Yas Island employees will be provided access to the safe zone. None of these individuals will mix with Abu Dhabi residents at any point during their stay. In addition to the more than two thousand COVID-19 tests taken over the past week, significant progress has also been made on the event site. A crew of 740 are working with 350 tons of steel and 18km of cable to turn the 640,000sqm area into a venue fit for the famous Octagon, where the best fights in the world will take place this year. “DCT Abu Dhabi has taken extreme and outstanding preparatory measures for the much-anticipated UFC event, more rigourous than any event ever held in Abu Dhabi,” said HE Ali Hassan Al Shaiba, Executive Director of Tourism and Marketing at the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi). “Abu Dhabi has demonstrated significant expertise as far as hosting major sporting events in the past, but during these challenging times, it is important that we continue to set global standards for hosting major events and unite our governmental entities to create a new roadmap for sport and tourism, all whilst ensuring everyone’s safety. “Our sincere thanks goes out to all event personnel and government employees that are now within the safe zone. They are a key element in the positioning the Emirate at the forefront of global sports tourism. We appreciate the dedication and patience they have demonstrated whilst preparing for this unique event.” UFC will hold four events on Yas Island, including one Pay Per View– UFC® 251— and three Fight Nights. The action-packed schedule begins with UFC® 251 at 2:00am local time (18:00 ET) on Sunday, July 12, and will be followed with successive ESPN Fight Night events to be held on Thursday, July 16 from 3:00am local time (19:00 ET); Sunday, July 19 from 1:00am local time (17:00 ET); and Sunday, July 26 from 1:00am local time (17:00 ET).

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