Fight Island 2.0 is up and running in Abu Dhabi, finishing in style with UFC254 on October 24.
The final event in the month-long program, it sees Khabib Nurmagomedov, fighting for the first time since September 2019, in a lightweight title unification match against Justin Gaethje.
And, in an exclusive interview, the Department of Culture and Tourism (DCT) Abu Dhabi’s destination marketing director Saeed Rashed Al Saeed, tells us that authorities in Abu Dhabi are working on a plan to safely allow fans to watch the event.
So far, all of the UFC’s fight nights have been held behind closed doors, with a safe zone bubble created on Yas Island for all staff, media, fighters and trainers to stay inside for the duration of the event.
However, Saeed says a plan is being worked on to allow fans to safely enter the stadium where UFC254 will take place, keeping them separate from those who have been living and working inside the safe zone.
He says: “We are currently studying how to bring fans into UFC254. Right now we’re going through how to segregate fans from people inside the bubble but still get them inside the space in the safe manner.
“If everything goes to plan we’ll be announcing this soon. It’s not confirmed yet but the plan is in place but it needs to be endorsed. I’m optimistic but health and safety can not be compromised. That is our priority, it will not happen unless it is fool proof.”
It’s not just DCT who can give the go-ahead on this, however, other authorities also need to give to approve the plans from DCT.
If it happens we’ll be first in the queue for tickets. Watch this space for more news.
