Dana White's UFC Fight Island is a wonderful idea

While the global lock down enforced due the Covid-19 pandemic completely disrupted the world of sports, UFC was the first enterprise to recommence operations. 

On April 10, Dana White, the President of UFC announced on an Instagram live session with ESPN's Brett Okamoto that UFC will start setting up Fight Island. He added that the Island would be be fully functional and equipped with both training facilities and hotel for the fighters and staff by June. 

His words were, "I've got an island.The infrastructure is being built right now, and we plan to do all of our international fights there." 

Dana White has never been someone to shy away from a problem. In a conversation with ESPN, he revealed how he got the idea for Fight Island. While on conversation with Ari Emmanuel, the CEO of Endeavor, they began spit-balling ideas. Once they had figured out the local fights, they emerged with the concept of Fight Island to host their international match ups. 

Sparring these little details, mystery still shrouds Fight Island. For starters, we don't even know where it is yet. However, an educated guess would suggest that it is likely to be in international waters so as to avoid legal restrictions. The latest news that flowed from the President was that Fight Island would host its event in June. 

Ryan Demmer, an epidemiologist at the University of Minnesota school of public health opined that this could be actually happen. In a Bleacher Report article, he stated that if they found an uninhabited island and if the concept is to bring in a couple of hundred people, he says it could potentially happen.

However, he further added that there was still a lot of risk of transmission among the players, staff and broadcasters themselves. He recommended that there should be complete quarantine for 2 weeks for all the visitors travelling to the island and before they return home, social distancing throughout the duration including protective equipment and vigilant screening and testing. 

The long-standing social media bout between Connor Mcgregor and Nate Diaz may come to an end with fists up on Fight Island, but no official announcement has yet been made. Dana White also confirmed that initially Fight Island events will take place without spectators or fans in attendance and the event would be live streamed. 

Featured Image: GQ Middle East