Footage has emerged from inside the arena on UFC Fight Island, where Saturday’s UFC 251 card and three subsequent events will occur.
See this footage, which comes from Guilherme Cruz of MMA Fighting, below:
This is what #UFCFightIsland will look like @MMAFighting pic.twitter.com/H6xKRCWAEx
— Guilherme Cruz (@guicruzzz) July 9, 2020
As you can see, Fight Island has a pretty standard set-up, not unlike the one we’ve seen at recent events at the UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas. That will likely come as a surprise to fans who believed that the Octagon would be set up on the beach. While the sizzling hot temperatures in Abu Dhabi ensured that the Octagon was never actually going to be set up outdoors, it’s easy to understand why some fans thought it would be.
First of all, UFC President Dana White said it would be.
Then there were the recent promotional images released by the promotion, which showed the Octagon constructed on the beach, which unsurprisingly led fans astray.
While it’s been clear from the get-go that the Octagon could not safely be set up outdoors on Fight Island, some fans still feel they were duped.
Why are they bothering with all this nonsense when an octagon on the beach is what fans want? It would be iconic imagery, they’re opting to build the UFC Apex instead?
— Josh Boswell (@JoshBoswell) July 9, 2020
Thats crap if its not outside like it was advertised
— Ashley 🥊⚽🏉 (@AshleyDevlin777) July 9, 2020
FFS @danawhite!? We all thought it was inside and laughed at the people who said it could be on the beach… then you do the promo of the octagon actually on the beach!!
— Praize (@PraizeWoW) July 9, 2020
I thought @danawhite said it was on the beach?
— Gabe (@GabeLeeSerrano) July 9, 2020
I thought @danawhite said it was on the beach?
— Gabe (@GabeLeeSerrano) July 9, 2020
What do you think of the set up for UFC Fight Island?