White (photo via YouTube)

Spectator sports are in trouble these days due to the social distancing rules introduced due to the ongoing pandemic. Many events have been postponed, others, canceled. And the athletes themselves are forced to stay indoors instead of hitting the gym, discussing the pros and cons of resistance training and various techniques while confined to their homes. Sporting events have been banned in many states – in most of them, not even those without a public are permitted.

There were some reports about the UFC 249 being held at a venue on tribal land outside of California’s jurisdiction, at the Tachi Palace Resort Casino in Lemoore, California. Ultimately, the event was canceled after ESPN and its parent company Disney stepped in. But UFC president Dana White has seemingly found another solution that could keep the fighters in the ring: holding the fights on a private island.

Offshore fighting

When speaking to ESPN recently, White revealed that he secured a location inside the United States as well as a “private island” to host events. While this didn’t help the UFC 249, the next pay-per-view event – UFC 250 – might already be held in this location.

UFC 250 was planned to take place in Sao Paulo this May but, due to the restrictions introduced by the Brazilian government, the event had to be called off. White has, in turn, previously revealed that he is planning to return to the screen by the same time with a new event held on the “Fight Island”, a private island in international waters where fighters having trouble getting into the US during the pandemic could go.

Reportedly, White is discussing the details of the new paradigm with the fighters themselves – not their managers – over a series of conference calls. No details about the timeframe of the events – or any other details, for that matter – have been officially disclosed so far.

Could “Fight Island” be a solution?

Well, if done right – yes, it could technically be a solution to circumvent the restrictions imposed by governments around the world. And fans around the world are hoping that it will, indeed, become a reality. 

There are, in turn, voices that doubt that this is a realistic solution – and questioning its moral aspects, too. Holding a major event on a private island is a logistics nightmare with way too many things that could go wrong – remember the infamous Fyre Festival.

On the other hand, there are millions of sports fans all over the world grown tired of watching the football league of Belarus – and only that – on TV, craving some diversity in live sports.