UFC president Dana White lauds Abu Dhabi's vision that made Fight Island possible

Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi have created a 25-kilometre 'safe zone' on Yas Island

UFC president Dana White has praised hosts Abu Dhabi for helping make the concept behind next month’s Fight Island come to life.

The fight festival, which will feature four events across a two-week period – beginning with the pay-per-view UFC 251 on July 11 – will take place at an existing venue on Yas Island, with a specifically marked "safe zone" housing everyone connected to the event.

Speaking to reporters this weekend at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, White said: “The guys in Abu Dhabi have always been great partners to us. They’re huge UFC fans, they love the sport. Obviously you guys know they’re huge jiu-jitsu fans.

“But in everybody that we dealt with trying to figure out a Fight Island, there were a lot concerns with the virus. We were looking for a place where we could bring people in from all over the world. And some parts of the world were worse than others in dealing with the virus. So it was tricky.

“But these guys are really smart guys, they’re very progressive guys, and they’re actually fun to deal with. So it worked out perfect.

"It took a long time to get this thing done and to get it dialled in. You can’t just call a place and say, ‘Hey, we want to come over and do fights’.

“We had to have a plan on how we could protect the people we’re bringing in and make sure it’s safe, and yet protect the citizens of Abu Dhabi too. So we had to do a lot of planning.”

UFC 251 will be headlined by welterweight champion Kamaru Usman’s title defence against Gilbert Burns, while featherweight belt-holder Alex Volkanovski will face Max Holloway for the second time.