The UFC believe the inaugural Fight Island in Abu Dhabi will eventually be considered “one of the most important moments in the promotion’s history”, although it confirmed it is assessing other options to stage its international bouts this year.
The series concluded on Sunday with UFC Fight Night 3, bringing to a close four events across a two-week period at Flash Forum that began on July 12 with UFC 251. The complete operation, which took root in mid-June, was housed in an 11-kilometre safe zone on Yas Island, with upwards of 2,000 people on site. More than 17,000 Covid-19 tests were said to have been administered.
Fight Island was deemed an “extension” of the five-year deal signed between Abu Dhabi and the UFC in April last year.
Speaking following Sunday's final event, UFC senior vice president David Shaw described the concept as "absolutely a win".
"It was a great success," Shaw said. "When we look back at the Fight Island experience after five or 10 years, we are going to say this was one of the most important moments in the UFC's history.
“In my view this is one of the most progressive and ambitious endeavours we have ever undertaken. This will have a long-lasting impact not only for our brand, but for the sport. This is a pretty important catalyst that's going to help propel mixed martial arts in the region for many years to come.
“So great success all round. I believe our partners, the Department of Culture and Tourism, believe so as well. But overall, from [UFC president] Dana [White] all the way to our groups, everyone feels this was a massive success. It took a hell of a lot of work to get Fight Island together - many months of planning and execution - and we couldn’t have done it without our partners at the Abu Dhabi government."
The UFC will relocate back to its Las Vegas base until midway through September at least, with nine shows planned for next month and eight the following, including the Contender Series.
The promotion is tipped to return to Abu Dhabi in mid-September for UFC 253, which will most probably be headlined by middleweight champion Israel Adesanya against Paulo Costa. White told The National earlier this month that all the UFC's main international fights would take place in the capital for the foreseeable future - especially as the pandemic continues to affect major sport globally.
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Exclusive interview with UFC president Dana White
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However, asked on Sunday when the UFC would come back to Abu Dhabi, Shaw said: “It’s a really important question, and a question without an answer at this point. I think everyone’s aware we do need an opportunity to have some of the international athletes compete.
“Given the current state of the coronavirus in the US and many countries around the world, travel restrictions are not our friend. We’re going to continue to look at opportunities around the world. Perhaps it makes sense to come back, but we’re not resting our laurels on this as the only opportunity. There has to be other opportunities for us.
“You need a very committed and willing partner, you need a partner that is going to invest in the operational and the infrastructure to make it happen. As stringent and rigorous as the testing procedures are, those don’t exist everywhere, so we’ve got to make these decisions very carefully as we look to other options.
“But we’re going to continue to look for other options in 2020. It only makes sense because of the wealth of great talent that we’ve got all over the world.”
On why the UFC would consider moving away from Abu Dhabi given the success of Fight Island, Shaw said: “There’s a few things. An effective partnership has to have two groups that are committed and there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done.
"This isn’t a commentary on how far along we are on the process; this is just there’s a lot of heavy-lifting that needs to be done if we do want to replicate this. If we can do this several times a year, we would.
"This has been absolutely phenomenal and one of the best experiences any of us has ever had. So we’d absolutely want to come back at any point.”
Shaw said the UFC would seek to replicate in Las Vegas the safety provisions implemented in Abu Dhabi, while the capital would be considered frontrunner to host events with spectators in attendance, should the government permit that in future.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
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