DUBAI 6 September 2019: A contingent of UFC’s biggest stars have lauded Abu Dhabi’s potential to further enrich the global domination of the world’s leading mixed martial arts (MMA) organisation.
With the Department of Culture & Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) hosting its first event since signing a five-year partnership with UFC in April, a glittering cast of UFCâ 242 athletes from 13 countries and five continents will face-off at The Arena – a new, purpose-built indoor venue on Yas Island – on September 7.
Speaking at the UFCâ 242 media day on Thursday, the universal belief among the multinational field is that the UAE capital, which is also hosting Abu Dhabi Showdown Week – a week-long MMA and entertainment festival to complement the epic fight night on Saturday – is now a globally-recognised UFC destination.
That view was echoed by none other than UFC interim lightweight champion Dustin ‘The Diamond’ Poirier, who will seek to unify the stacked lightweight division when he faces Khabib ‘The Eagle’ Nurmagomedov in the main event of UFCâ 242.
“Abu Dhabi is a beautiful city and the people are awesome. It’s so clean and is one of the most welcoming and inviting places I have ever fought,” said the interim lightweight champion, who believes the organisation has found a new regional home: “I thought I might be like entering enemy territory, but I was completely wrong. This is my 41st (MMA) fight and this is one of the most inviting and welcoming places I have ever fought. It feels good out here. It’s way better than I ever could have expected – we have a new home in the Middle East.”
Flyweight Joanne Calderwood also believes Abu Dhabi has cemented its position as the UFC’s regional base. “I know the UFC is doing a show every year here, so I’m really excited about the future for Abu Dhabi and the UFC,” said the Scot, whose clash with American Andrea Lee at UFCâ 242 is one of two all-female bouts, the first UFC women’s fights to be staged in Abu Dhabi.
Calderwood revealed she’s seen as much of the city as possible during the build-up to UFCâ 242: “I did a bit of exploring the other day and went to Warner Bros. (World Abu Dhabi) – it was great. I wish I had a week after the fight because there’s so many cool things to do,” she added.
With combat sports a central pillar of the Abu Dhabi Showdown Week entertainment festival, Brazilian lightweight Edson Barboza believes UFCâ 242 will help evolve the emirate’s affinity for jiu-jitsu into widespread adoption of mixed martial arts. Jiu-jitsu is part of the UAE’s national curriculum and is taught in 130 domestic schools to 76,000 students, something Barboza revealed is well-known in South America.
“Abu Dhabi is a great example to the world in the way it is opening up mixed martial arts to the people, especially young kids,” said Barboza, who will take-on the USA’s Paul Felder in the co-main event at UFCâ 242. “In the future, I think Abu Dhabi is going to be a great, great centre of MMA. It’s coming and I hope it comes real soon because I love this place. I have a lot of close friends from my home town of Nova Friburgo, in Rio, who teach jiu-jitsu and MMA here. I talk to them about what is happening here, so it’s a dream to come to Abu Dhabi to represent the UFC, jiu-jitsu and MMA.”
For the latest Abu Dhabi Showdown Week updates, visit www.ADShowdownWeek.ae or follow @ADShowdownWeek on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Full UFCâ 242 fight card:
| RED CORNER | CATEGORY / ROUNDS | BLUE CORNER |
| Don Madge, South Africa | Lightweight Bout / 3 x Rounds | Fares Ziam, France |
| Omari Akhmedov, Russia | Middleweight Bout / 3 x Rounds | Zak Cummings, N. Ireland |
| Nordine Taleb, France | Welterweight Bout / 3 x Rounds | Muslim Salikhov, Russia |
| Belal Muhammad, USA | Welterweight Bout / 3 x Rounds | Takashi Sato, Japan |
| Ottman Azaitar, Germany | Lightweight Bout / 3 x Rounds | Teemu Packalen, Finaland |
| Liana Jojua, Georgia | Women’s Bantamweight Bout / 3 x Rounds | Sarah Moras, Canada |
| Zubaira Tukhugov, Russia | Featherweight Bout / 3 x Rounds | Lerone Murphy, UK |
| Joanne Calderwood | Women’s Flyweight Bout / 3 x Rounds | Andrea Lee, USA |
| Mairbek Taisumov, Russian | Lightweight Bout / 3 x Rounds | Diego Ferreira, Brazil |
| Curtis Blaydes, USA | Heavyweight Bout / 3 x Rounds | Shamil Abdurakhimov, Russia |
| Islam Makhachev, Russia | Lightweight Bout / 3 x Rounds | Davi Ramos, Brazil |
| Edson Barboza, Brazil | Lightweight Bout / 3 x Rounds | Paul Felder, USA |
| Khabib Nurmagomedov, Russia | UFC Lightweight Title / 5 x Rounds | Dustin Poirier, USA |