One of the UFC's best middleweights said it wouldn't have been right to have "Fight Island" bouts on the beach
- The UFC middleweight Kelvin Gastelum said fighting on a beach wouldn't have been a good idea as it is way too hot in Abu Dhabi.
- Gastelum is one of 24 athletes competing in the third of the UFC's four "Fight Island" events Saturday, when he takes on Jack Hermansson in the co-main event.
- When the UFC president Dana White first said that he had leased a private island to host international MMA events while the coronavirus pandemic restricted travel, there was great speculation as to what that could look like.
- Theories included a UFC Octagon on the beach, underneath the sun, with White sitting on a throne cageside surrounded by tiki torches.
- As fun as the idea sounded, Gastelum, who used the beach-side training Octagon to exercise in this week, appeared grateful "Fight Island" events are inside an air-conditioned venue.
FIGHT ISLAND — Kelvin Gastelum poured cold water on the concept of holding mixed martial arts contests beneath a hot sun by the beach.
"It's not the right conditions," the UFC middleweight contender said at a pre-fight media event attended by Insider, ahead of his bout Saturday against Jack Hermansson, in the third of the UFC's four "Fight Island" cards in Abu Dhabi.
Competing in an Octagon by the sea, with the UFC president Dana White sitting on a throne surrounded by tiki torches, is perhaps a fantasy some fans may have had when White originally said he had leased a private island to host his combat sports shows while the ongoing coronavirus pandemic restricted international travel.
The world's mixed martial arts company struck a deal with the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism for a four-event residency in a quarantined area on Yas Island.
There is a training Octagon on the beach, and though Gastelum visited the site to take photos and exercise, he said it is far too hot and too humid to compete in an actual match, there.
"It's way too hot," Gastelum said. "There's too much mist in the air, I don't know what's in the air there, but the conditions to fight by the beach, in the open air, is … not right."
Temperatures on Yas Beach, where the UFC's training Octagon can be found, range from 108 to 113 Fahrenheit (42 to 45 Celcius), with a humidity of 25% to 50%.
Gastelum, a Californian, added: "Although fans would have liked to have seen it … and I would have liked to have seen it — I love being by the beach — But to fight in it? It's not the right conditions."
Gastelum and Hermansson's match, like all "Fight Island" fights, do not take place outside, but, rather, inside the purpose-built, behind-closed doors, and air-conditioned Flash Forum venue.
Gastelum is a No.7-ranked competitor in the 170-pound weight class and would leap-frog his opponent, the No.6-ranked Hermansson, should he triumph at the "UFC Fight Night: Figueiredo vs. Benavidez 2" show.
The fighter is not only targeting a win, but the matches to take thereafter so that he can position himself into a UFC title shot.
"I'm always on that mindset … for gold," he told the media. "Always thinking about the path to take me to the title. [And] first stop on the list is Jack Hermansson."
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