Comment on UFC’s Fight Island becomes reality this weekend

The imagery evoked by Dana White’s crazy idea was undeniably intoxicating: An octagon perched amid swaying palm trees on a white sand beach, waves lapping at the canvas while mixed martial arts fighters traded blows in the tropical sun. A few months later, the project that came to be known as Fight Island is real and ready for competition. And while Fight Island is not exactly the idyllic scene evoked by its name, the octagon inside an air-conditioned arena on Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island also sits inside a bubble that seems highly unlikely to burst. “It’s the biggest thing we’ve ever undertaken,” said White, a graduate of Hermon High School who owns a house in Levant.