Any event that Conor McGregor fights on is a big deal. But, it looks like Dana White’s hoping to take UFC 257 to the next level, now that the massive star has signed on to fight Dustin Poirier.
After weeks of speculation as to whether a rematch between McGregor and Poirier will actually happen on January 23rd, recently it was reported McGregor’s signed his bout agreement for UFC 257.
No official venue or location has been announced yet, but recently White told Barstool Sports this (quotes via MMA Junkie).
“I’m looking to make it International Fight Week,” White said, before referencing the new arena in Abu Dhabi. “The new Etihad Arena will be open, and that thing was designed with us in mind.
Concerts, pool parties, all kinds of cool stuff. And, yes, I hope to bring fans back. … That’s what I’m shooting for.”
“What I would love to do is we’ll get there, and do it Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday fights,” White said. “… We go out there and kill it.”
And while talking about his wish to bring back fans specifically, as the COVID-19 pandemic goes on, White said this.
“It would be good to have fans. And the thing is, from ‘Fight Island’ we can get fans all over the world there.
It’s an easy destination to get to, a fun destination to go to, and we can just (expletive) blow the doors off this thing,” White said.
“I’m ready for some fights with fans. I’m ready to go to a live concert. I’m ready to have some parties.
I’m gonna go to all this (expletive). I want to mingle with the fans again. I want the fans back. We’ve figured this whole thing out up to now.
We’ll figure out how to do do this safely and pull this thing off in Abu Dhabi.”
You can understand why the UFC and White would love to fans in attendance for UFC 257. After all, McGregor remains one of the biggest draws in combat sports.
In fact, for a while, many believed the UFC would not book McGregor to fight until fans could attend.
In addition to the revenue boost for UFC 257, by doing a couple of cards that same week, you would also increase revenues substantially for those events too.
But, as it stands right now, it’s pretty hard to picture since COVID-19 cases continue to spike.
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