Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White told TMZ Sports on Tuesday that he had found a new venue for UFC 249 bouts after the Barclays Centre in New York was ruled out because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I'm […] a day or two away from securing a private island […] we're getting the infrastructure put in now, so I'm going to start doing the international fights too”, White said.
He added that he would be unable to “get all of the international fighters into the US” but said he would “start flying them off into the island and do international fights there”.
“As of Apr 18, the UFC is back up and running”, White pointed out, adding that bouts are due to be held every week and that all fighters, support staff, and UFC crew would regularly undergo coronavirus tests.
While White remained tight-lipped about the exact location of the venue, the US sports news network ESPN quoted unnamed sources as saying on Monday that “it's looking like it [the fights] will take place on the West Coast of the United States”.
The sources also said that “the UFC has made a point to not share the specific location with many people outside the company at this time”.
The remarks come after Russia’s UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov wrote on his Instagram account last week that his fight with American Tony Ferguson slated for 18 April had been cancelled.
Nurmagomedov expressed regret over the cancellation, adding that the COVID-19 pandemic makes everything unpredictable and that he should follow the safety requirements and stay at home in order to tackle the spread of the outbreak.