First-ever UFC "Fight Island" card on July 11 features three title fights, headlined by Kamaru Usman vs. Gilbert Burns
Man, combat sports fans are up for a treat in July. UFC has officially announced the "Fight Island" starting July 11. The first-ever “Fight Island” card, UFC 251 features three massive title fights on the same night.
UFC president Dana White announced that UFC 251, the first-ever card to go down in UFC's very own Fight Island on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi will be headlined by a welterweight title fight between Kamaru Usman and Gilbert Burns. "The Nigerian Nightmare" will defend his title against friend and teammate Burns, who just recently broke into the #1 contender spot following a dominant decision win over former champion Tyron Woodley.
UFC triples the excitement for the first-ever Fight Island card
Immediately following the fight, Burns called for a title shot and now he’s been granted an opportunity to get his hands on the welterweight gold. It's also being reported that Usman has signed a brand new six-fight deal with the UFC.
Well, now that we got the main event out of the way, let's talk about the co-headliner of the night which also features an exciting title summit rematch between reigning UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski and former king of the featherweight division, Max Holloway. Volkanovski and Holloway fought the first time back in December 2019 when "Blessed" ended up losing his title to the first ever Australian-born champion in the UFC.
The third title fight on the night will crown a new bantamweight champion as Petr Yan goes up against former featherweight champion Jose Aldo for the vacant UFC bantamweight title. Former champion Henry Cejudo successfully defended his UFC bantamweight title against Dominick Cruz at UFC 249 and then surprisingly announced his retirement, vacating the title by default.
The rest of the UFC 251 main card includes a high profile rematch between former strawweight champion Jessica Andrade and Rose Namajunas and an exciting flyweight showdown between Paige VanZant and Amanda Ribas.