The latest incarnation of Fight Island in Abu Dhabi will end on Saturday with a battle between two of mixed martial arts’ (MMA) biggest fighters. The Fight Island series continues to be a marquee event in the United Arab Emirates amid the pandemic and its major effects on global sports.
Conor McGregor will face Dustin Poirier at the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 257 on Abu Dhabi Yas Island. McGregor, one of the sport's biggest names, will look to defeat Poirier for the second time after knocking him out in 2014.
MMA is a combat sport where two people fight in a cage in a series of timed rounds. The fight is won by a judges' decision, a knockout or one of the fighters tapping out. The UFC is the preeminent competition for the sport.
Abu Dhabi became the home of the coronavirus-era UFC last year. The first series of Fight Island finished in July and several fighters of Middle Eastern origins participated. In October, the second Fight Island ended with Khabib Nurmagomedov defeating Justin Gaethje to remain undefeated. Nurmagomedov, from the Dagestan region of Russia, is immensely popular in the Middle East — in part because of his strong Muslim faith. This current Fight Island series began on Jan. 16 and will finish Saturday.
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