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With world sport searching for ways to get around the coronavirus pandemic, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is talking up the possibility of holding fights on a private island.
Key points:
- UFC has not held an event since mid-March amid restrictions on mass gatherings due to coronavirus
- President Dana White says infrastructure is being built on a private island to allow international fighters to compete
- In Australia, the NRL has said moving the competition to an island off the Queensland coast is one option for the league to revive its season
UFC president Dana White said a fight between lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson had been scrapped, with Nurmagomedov apparently unable to leave Russia amid the pandemic.
American Justin Gaethje is the new man to replace Nurmagomedov at UFC 249 at a yet-to-be-determined location.
"I'm this close to getting a deal done so this place where this fight is going to be on April 18th, I have locked up for two months. So I'm going to continue to pump fights out," White told ESPN.
"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."
White gave no indication where the island was located.
The last UFC event was on March 15 in the Brazilian capital Brasilia.
It became the first event in UFC's history held behind closed doors after the Governor of the Federal District that includes Brasilia declared a ban on all large gatherings in response to coronavirus.
Since then, a UFC fight night in London was also cancelled, as were two other cards due to be held at UFC's headquarters in Las Vegas.
Although White still has not even announced a venue for UFC 249, he remains determined to hold the pay-per-view show.
White wrote on Twitter: "The fight is signed and is 100% ON LIVE on ESPN somewhere on EARTH!!!!"
Most US states have restrictions in place that would make it impossible to stage a show, even without an audience.
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UFC 249 initially was slated for Brooklyn, but a venue change became necessary several weeks ago.
ESPN, the UFC's broadcast partner, has said White was attempting to secure an unnamed venue on the west coast for the show.
"I'm terrified and I … love it," Gaethje tweeted after the announcement of his fight.
Nurmagomedov announced last week that he wasn't planning to leave his native Dagestan, suggesting Russia's travel restrictions in response to coronavirus made it impossible.
He later claimed he would be willing to leave for the fight but couldn't plan because he didn't know where or when it would occur.
'Why not give it a crack'
Australian UFC champion Alex Volkanovski said he was confident White could make the project work.
"It is crazy but if anyone is going to do it, it's Dana White," he said.
Volkanovski, a former concreter from New South Wales' south coast, has resumed training after recovering from a broken hand he sustained during his title-winning fight in Las Vegas last December.
The 31-year-old was hoping to begin the defence of his featherweight title in Australia but said he was open to the possibility of joining the UFC island project.
"I wanted to defend that belt on home soil, but it just not looks like that's happening. I think that's definitely going to have to be postponed," Volkanovski said.
"Now that the coronavirus has come up, I'm thinking why we don't just go and fight on an island for a while?"
With the coronavirus pandemic set to disrupt almost all major international sporting competitions for the foreseeable future, Volkanovski said White's idea might be a silver lining for sports fans around the world.
"We could be stuck in this for a long time and if this is the only way of bringing money for me and my family, I might have to do it," he said.
"If it does happen, the world will be watching — especially in the times we're in right now.
"If we can make it work, why not give it a crack?"
Sports eyeing island solution
The island idea is not new, with the NRL admitting it is considering a range of options including moving its entire competition to Tangalooma — on Moreton Island off the Queensland coast — to keep the players quarantined.
The AFL has suggested the possibility that teams could be sent to a number of "hubs" in different states in a bid to get the season off the ground.
The idea would involve some teams based in Tasmania and Western Australia, where there are lower COVID-19 infection rates and a possible earlier end to self isolation and restrictions than elsewhere in Australia.
However AFL Players Association president Patrick Dangerfield has described the idea as "speculative" and said he wasn't sure how comfortable he was with it.
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Topics: infectious-diseases-other, respiratory-diseases, sport, covid-19, united-states, tas, wa, brisbane-4000, tangalooma-4025, qld, australia
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