Abu Dhabi to host two UFC events in 2024 with Fight Night added to schedule

Abu Dhabi will host two UFC events this year, with a Fight Night to take place this summer before its traditional pay-per-view show in October.

The UFC announced on Wednesday the additional event for August 3, which will take place at Etihad Arena. The Fight Night will represent the organisation’s 19th event held in the emirate since debuting there in 2010.

In a statement, UFC CEO Dana White said: “Abu Dhabi is one of the most incredible cities in the world. I love everything about Abu Dhabi, and I’m excited to bring another epic event.

Dana White 'excited' to continue Abu Dhabi love affair

“Abu Dhabi is an amazing destination, especially if you are a fight fan. I tell everyone to fly in early, check out the amazing food and experiences Abu Dhabi has to offer, and then end the trip with incredible fights.”

The accompanying press release said the fight card was “soon to be announced”, adding that it will "see international and local talent enter the octagon for a must-see spectacle, featuring a number of the sport’s most talented athletes”.

The new event means the UFC will stage three events in the Gulf this year, with the promotion holding an inaugural Fight Night in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on June 22 – part of the partnership extension signed last October between the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) and the UFC.

The agreement, which runs until 2028, guarantees one numbered UFC event to be held in the UAE capital each year, with additional Fight Nights to take place “across the Mena region” as part of the deal.

The UFC’s most recent visit to Abu Dhabi came last October, when UFC 294 was headlined by lightweight champion Islam Makhachev’s knockout victory against Alexander Volkanovski at Etihad Arena.

On Wednesday, Saleh Al Geziry, director general for tourism at DCT Abu Dhabi, said in a statement: “Hosting Abu Dhabi’s first-ever UFC Fight Night is a major milestone in our ongoing partnership. Some of the most iconic moments in UFC history have taken place during epic Fight Nights - and we are excited to create more spectacular memories for MMA fans.

“As our UFC partnership evolves, we will deliver unforgettable experiences for fans across the region and the millions watching around the world.”

In 2020, Abu Dhabi hosted the historic Fight Island series that allowed the UFC to stage events during the Covid-19 pandemic. Fight Island featured some of the sport’s most prominent names, including former lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, former two-division belt-holder Conor McGregor, and former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.

HEADLINE HERE

I would recommend writing out the text in the body
And then copy into this box
It can be as long as you link
But I recommend you use the bullet point function (see red square)
Or try to keep the word count down
Be wary of other embeds lengthy fact boxes could crash into
That's about it

Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

Scoreline

Syria 1-1 Australia

Syria Al Somah 85'

Australia Kruse 40'

Ain Dubai in numbers

126: The length in metres of the legs supporting the structure

1 football pitch: The length of each permanent spoke is longer than a professional soccer pitch

16 A380 Airbuses: The equivalent weight of the wheel rim.

9,000 tonnes: The amount of steel used to construct the project.

5 tonnes: The weight of each permanent spoke that is holding the wheel rim in place

192: The amount of cable wires used to create the wheel. They measure a distance of 2,4000km in total, the equivalent of the distance between Dubai and Cairo.