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UFC has found a new venue in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi for the first three events of this year: Etihad Arena.
Dubbed as Fight Island, UFC made history by holding events at the location amid the raging pandemic. However, the iconic Flash Forum which saw many UFC Fight Nights and pay-per-views within the lockdown period is not the venue for UFC 's next three events.
UFC Fight Island 7 and 8 as well as UFC 257 will take place at Etihad Arena, which is also located on Yas Island. There will be a limited number of spectators at the venue for the first time in a UFC event since the COVID-19 pandemic started.
A look inside UFC Fight Island's Etihad Arena
Etihad Arena is UAE's largest indoor multipurpose venue that has been built to operate on sustainable technology. Under usual circumstances, the venue has a capacity of nearly 18,000 people spread across 3.5 thousand square meters. However, the actual number on January 16, 20, and 23 for the three UFC events will be far less.
The state-of-the-art design of the Etihad Arena has won multiple awards and accolades.
Here is an inside tour of Etihad Arena, where Conor McGregor will make his return to UFC on January 23 against Dustin Poirier.
Dana White on Etihad Arena: "We'll do three fights in a week"
Dana White visited the Etihad Arena with Daniel Cormier last year in October and was really impressed by the setup.
He said to Robbie Fox of Barstool Sports that he was looking forward to hosting International Fight Week at Etihad Arena, which was designed with UFC in mind. He also wanted the fans back in attendance and to do three fights a week. It seems like White has done everything he said he would do, except officially announce International Fight Week.
Etihad Arena is yet to host any event, thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic. All plans were scratched because of it, forcing organizers to shut everything down until things are better. Fight Island itself has seen its fair share of international events, but this arena is still a waiting to be inaugurated.
Hopefully, January 16th's Fight Night headlined by Max Holloway and Calvin Kattar can do justice to the mega setup that is the Etihad Arena. January 20 will see Michael Chiesa vs. Neil Magny in the main event before McGregor and Poirier face each other at UFC 257.
