The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) had never tried anything like this before. Traveling to the other side of the world and renting out an island to host fight nights seemed like a long shot. But due to the current state of the world, the dreams of UFC President Dana White came to fruition.
Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, was selected as the location for UFC 251 and is currently slated to host more events in the coming weeks. Securing the island took months. In April, White stated that he was looking for an international venue to host fights since fighters could not enter the United States due to travel restrictions. It was then that he first used the term “Fight Island.” Fans were excited to see where White would go with this idea. It took a few weeks to get off the ground, but by June, the location was confirmed.
The card was easily one of the best UFC has produced in the last year. Three title fights were slated for the main card, with the preliminary card flashing some hidden gems. The main event was supposed to see UFC Welterweight Champion Kamaru Usman defend his title against Gilbert Burns. However, on July 3, Burns and his coach tested positive for COVID-19. A quick replacement was needed, and White selected Jorge Masvidal to take Burns’ place in the main event.
The main card started at 6 a.m. local time in order to broadcast the fight live at the normal 10 p.m. EDT. The first fight saw a women’s flyweight matchup between Amanda Ribas and Paige VanZant. Ribas made quick work of VanZant and got her to submit to an armbar at 2:21 into the first round. Next on the card was a women’s strawweight matchup between two former champions. Rose Namajunas and Jessica Andrade went back and forth for the full 15 minutes, but Namajunas got the nod in a split-decision victory.
The first of the three title fights saw some controversy toward the end of the contest. The vacant UFC Bantamweight Championship was up for grabs as Jose Aldo fought Petr Yan. The first three rounds were tightly contested, but the fourth and fifth rounds proved to be the difference as Aldo could not keep up with Yan’s offense. The fifth round is where things took a turn. Yan hit Aldo with painful shots to a point where Aldo could not even attempt to rebound Yan’s offense. Yan landed 62 significant strikes in the round, while Aldo provided one. With three minutes to go, Aldo covered his head on the ground while Yan landed haymakers. Referee Leon Roberts had plenty of opportunities to call a stop to the fight, but let it go on as Yan continued to pummel Aldo. Finally, Roberts stopped the fight with 3:24 to go and declared Yan the new champion. Many on social media were unhappy with the decision to let the fight continue, including fellow UFC fighters and President Dana White, who called it a “horrible, horrible stoppage” and said the fight “should have been stopped sooner.”
The second title fight was for the UFC Featherweight Championship. Current champion Alexander Volkanovski defended his title against Max Holloway. The fight started with Holloway gaining the advantage in the first two rounds. The next three were toss-ups as both fighters went the distance. Many on social media had Holloway winning the fight, but the judges outside the octagon scored in favor of Volkanovski, giving him the victory by split decision. White once again responded to the controversial decision, slamming the “bad judging” and saying that the UFC needed to “tighten up” the referees and judges.
The main event saw no controversy as Kamaru Usman dominated all five rounds against Jorge Masvidal and retained his welterweight title. Usman said after the fight that his respect for Masvidal had skyrocketed.
“[Masvidal] is the biggest, baddest dude out there right now,” Usman said. “I had to switch gears and prepare for him on six days’ notice.”
Masvidal welcomed the challenge coming in on only a week’s notice and gave his congratulations to the champion after the fight.
“I knew I didn’t have the greatest gas tank coming in, but I’m still a dangerous man,” Masvidal said. “Hats off to [Usman], we’ll do it again.”
The next UFC event on “Fight Island” took place on Thursday, July 16, with a featherweight main event featuring Calvin Kattar and Dan Ige.
Photo Courtesy of UFC
