The Fight Island mixed martial arts (MMA) event went down in an Abu Dhabi arena sans fans on Sunday. It was the second major MMA competition in the Emirati city, and some fighters with Middle Eastern backgrounds captured headlines with their bouts.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event took place on Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island. The island will host three more sets of fights this month. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, there were no fans in attendance on Sunday. The arena was sanitized and fighters were tested before entering the cage. Nigerian-American Kamaru Usman defeated American Jorge Masvidal in the headlining fight.

MMA is a combat sport where fighters utilize a variety of grappling and striking-based martial arts. The victor is either determined via a knockout that the referee calls or by the judges’ decision at the conclusion of the timed rounds. Its popularity has grown in recent years in the Middle East, in part because of undefeated Dagestani fighter and devout Muslim Khabib Nurmagomedov's success.

A few fighters of Middle Eastern heritage competed on Fight Island. Makwan Amirkhani trounced Danny Henry of Scotland via a first-round submission. Amirkhani was born in Iran but grew up in Finland. He is from a Kurdish family and held up both the Finnish and Kurdish flags after his victory. Amirkhani often receives significant praise on Kurdish social media for his brutal takedowns and holds.