UFC notes: Fight Island ready in June, three event week coming

By Josh Nason
Published: 24 Apr 2020, 17:24

It was a newsworthy day for the UFC Friday as Dana White gave some information about upcoming shows and the infamous Fight Island on an Instagram live chat with ESPN’s Brett Okamoto.

They have filed for a trademark on the Fight Island term and White said the organization should be able to run events there starting in June. He re-iterated the importance of the island’s existence so international fighters that aren’t allowed in the U.S. due to pandemic related travel bans can still compete. It’s unclear how they will travel to the island and then back to their home country, but White has played his cards close to the vest with details on everything as of late. He added that once they are able to run shows like they used to, the island wouldn’t be of use to them.
It appears that Jacksonville, Florida’s VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena will not only host UFC 249 on May 9th as first reported by this website, but two other shows that same week as the organization hold three events there in seven days — aggressive even by their usual busy standards.
Saying that Governor Ron DeSantis has signed off, Wednesday, May 13, and Saturday, May 16 will also see UFC events. According to Damon Martin, the 13th event will reportedly be headlined by Anthony Smith vs. Glover Teixeira in a battle of light heavyweight title contenders while the 16th will see Alistair Overeem take on Walt Harris in a heavyweight clash.
Finally, the organization announced the full lineup for the aforementioned UFC 249 PPV:
PPV: Tony Ferguson vs. Justin Gaethje for UFC interim lightweight title; UFC bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo vs. Dominick Cruz; Francis Ngannou vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik; Jeremy Stephens vs. Calvin Kattar; Greg Hardy vs. Yorgan De Castro
ESPN prelims: Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone vs. Anthony Pettis; Fabricio Werdum vs. Aleksei Oleinik; Carla Esparza vs. Michelle Waterson; Jacare Souza vs. Uriah Hall; Vicente Luque vs. Niko Price; Bryce Mitchell vs. Charles Rosa; Ryan Spann vs. Sam Alvey