'I've got an island': UFC president Dana White says international UFC shows will be hosted offshore on a private island (VIDEO)
The UFC's return to action for UFC 249 on April 18 won't be a one-off event, with UFC president Dana White saying it will mark the return to business as usual for the world's leading MMA organization.
The COVID-19 outbreak means there will be some changes to the usual setup, with all of the events set to take place behind closed doors in secret locations, with White telling ESPN that he has a location locked up to host events close to the United States for the next two months.
And he also revealed that he has secured a unique location for his international events.
"I'm this close to getting a deal done, so this place where the fight's going to be on April 18th, I have locked up for two months, so I'm going to continue to pump fights out," he explained.
"I've also secured an island. I've got an island. The infrastructure is being built right now. We're going to do all of our international fights on this island.
"So, April 18, when we do this fight, international and in the United States, we're going to start cranking (out events). The UFC will be back up and running, internationally and here in the States."
That means the UFC is set to pick up its event schedule following UFC 249 on April 18, with their next event likely to follow swiftly after, as White explained that the UFC is preparing to pump out fight nights at their usual high frequency, starting on April 18.
"We are. We're going back to back to back," he said.
"We're getting back into our regular schedule. We will have postponed three fights (events). We'll make all these fights up and we'll be right back on schedule, starting April 18."
But despite seemingly having his plans in place, White remained insistent that he will keep the details of his fight locations under wraps to avoid interference from outside influences scuppering his plans.
When asked where the fights would take place, he simply said, "On ESPN. Live April 18 on ESPN.
"It doesn't matter where it's happening, because nobody can go anyway. Nobody can show up, nobody can go. There are some members of the media that have reached out to me that want to go. I'll bring them. But other than that, it's not open to the fans, so it's on ESPN, that's it. It's all anybody needs to know.
"There's a lot of creepy people out there, and when they find out the location they start attacking the location and making phone calls. So this keeps the creeps at bay."
