Ufc Fighters Named Silva

• Mma Fighters Named Silva

• Fans return to a UFC event Saturday for the first time in 10 months.
• UFC events were paused for six weeks early into the coronavirus pandemic but restarted in May behind-closed-doors.
• The UFC then held domestic shows at its UFC Apex studio and international events in Abu Dhabi using Fight Island branding.
• The third series of Fight Island events begin Saturday, January 23 and take place at the newly-built, state-of-the-art Etihad Arena.
• Take a look inside.
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

FIGHT ISLAND - The world-leading mixed martial arts firm returned to Abu Dhabi for its third Fight Island-branded festival beginning January 16, and for the first time, fight fans will enjoy the show.

Derrick Lewis appeared to be on the back foot against Curtis Blaydes at UFC Vegas 19 on Saturday night. He turned the tables when Blaydes made a mistake in round two, shooting for a takedown, but. Starting with the most obvious. Irishman Conor McGregor is undoubtedly the most.

Previous shows were held behind-closed-doors at the purpose-built Flash Forum.

But the UFC Fight Night: Holloway vs. Kattar event Saturday, the Wednesday show headlined by Michael Chiesa and Neil Magny, and UFC 257, which features Conor McGregor against Dustin Poirier, all take place at the state-of-the-art Etihad Arena on Yas Island.

The arena is part of a $3.26 billion developments-under-construction project on Yas Bay. Insider is back on Fight Island and went on a tour of the venue Friday, the day before Holloway and Kattar do battle in a featherweight contest scheduled for five, five-minute rounds.

Take a look inside the arena:

And outside:

Etihad Arena, a multi-purpose entertainment venue, is the epicenter of Yas Bay's waterfront and neighbors the Yas Marina Circuit, Ferrari World, Yas Waterworld, and the Yas Links Golf Course.

Mohamed Abdalla Al Zaabi, CEO of Miral, the Abu Dhabi real estate developer behind the venue, described the project to Insider while standing in front of the exclusive VIP boxes.

Gallery: POWER RANKED: The 10 best fighters in the MMA world right now (INSIDER)

'We're excited to have this arena ready to host one of the most prestigious events in the world, the UFC, for its first event,' Al Zaabi said.

It's is just one part of Miral's vision to have Yas Island as 'a top destination for family fun and entertainment,' with a portfolio that includes the aforementioned Ferrari World and the upcoming Sea World, explained Al Zaabi.

He added that the venue could be flexible in what it hosts, extending the floor space, and putting in an ice rink, basketball court, or creating a stage for gigs.

'We intentionally designed this arena so it can be customized and change the set-up for a tennis game, swimming, concerts.'

The UFC's three-event residency at the Etihad Arena will be the first time fans have attended a UFC show since 15,000 people saw UFC 248 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on March 8, 2020.

The venue will be at 10% capacity, with between 1,800 fans expected at each event.

'Our customer safety [is a top priority]. We decided not to have more than 10% capacity, which guarantees at least two meters between guests,' Al Zaabi said, adding it was the first Abu Dhabi event to have spectators since February last year.

Here's the author at the venue:

Read more:

And outside:

Etihad Arena, a multi-purpose entertainment venue, is the epicenter of Yas Bay's waterfront and neighbors the Yas Marina Circuit, Ferrari World, Yas Waterworld, and the Yas Links Golf Course.

Mohamed Abdalla Al Zaabi, CEO of Miral, the Abu Dhabi real estate developer behind the venue, described the project to Insider while standing in front of the exclusive VIP boxes.

Gallery: POWER RANKED: The 10 best fighters in the MMA world right now (INSIDER)

'We're excited to have this arena ready to host one of the most prestigious events in the world, the UFC, for its first event,' Al Zaabi said.

It's is just one part of Miral's vision to have Yas Island as 'a top destination for family fun and entertainment,' with a portfolio that includes the aforementioned Ferrari World and the upcoming Sea World, explained Al Zaabi.

He added that the venue could be flexible in what it hosts, extending the floor space, and putting in an ice rink, basketball court, or creating a stage for gigs.

'We intentionally designed this arena so it can be customized and change the set-up for a tennis game, swimming, concerts.'

The UFC's three-event residency at the Etihad Arena will be the first time fans have attended a UFC show since 15,000 people saw UFC 248 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on March 8, 2020.

The venue will be at 10% capacity, with between 1,800 fans expected at each event.

'Our customer safety [is a top priority]. We decided not to have more than 10% capacity, which guarantees at least two meters between guests,' Al Zaabi said, adding it was the first Abu Dhabi event to have spectators since February last year.

Here's the author at the venue:

Read more:

Chael Sonnen is not rushing to join the growing list of disgruntled former UFC fighters who have issues with retired matchmaker Joe Silva.

In recent days, something of a movement has begun with the hashtag #JoeSilvaStories spreading on Twitter. A number of fighters, from former title challengers Gray Maynard and Jon Fitch, to veteran Brendan Schaub and more, have aired grievances with how Silva conducted business during his roughly 20-year tenure as a UFC executive.

Many of the stories include Silva allegedly being verbally abusive to athletes and implementing cutthroat negotiation tactics. Silva's job wasn't merely to pick two names and match them up but also the consistent juggle of keeping the size of the roster manageable through signings and releases, ensuring contracts were honored within the obligated window and scouting the next generation of talent to come through the company. He explained the conditions he worked through in a 2013 interview with MMA Junkie.

Sonnen, who fought under the UFC banner 14 times during Silva's run as matchmaker, said his interactions were somewhat in line with what others are describing. The difference, however, is Sonnen had a firm understanding of the many layers and complexities that went into Silva's job.

'He was really good at what he did, and Joe really deserves a lot of compliments for that,' Sonnen said on his YouTube channel. 'Some of the stories from the guys that have been coming out are very mean, and they were very mean because somewhere along the way Joe had hurt their feelings, and this was like that payback of sorts. But I don't know that if you listen to these guys' stories, and they were largely telling them on social media, you will also probably miss there's tongue in cheek in some of these stories. There was an appreciation for the attitude and the way in which Joe Silva did things.

'I have my own Joe Silva stories, but they were all positive. Some of them were very similar to the guys whose feelings show. I just got it. I got Joe from the beginning, and I get he was a hard worker with a ton of stuff to do and like anybody, there's only so many hours in the day. I also understood there was a very big human element to Joe's job that Joe did not naturally fit. Joe had to become the bearer of bad news. He wanted that job; he put on great matches for all of the fans and viewers.'

Sonnen went on to explain that Silva's role is largely unenviable. For every dream he makes true by signing a fighter, there's the opposite side of the coin where it's his responsibility to crush those same dreams. Sonnen said that Silva had no time to tiptoe around the feelings of each individual while maintaining a roster that grew by hundreds over the course of his career, and that's why he likely came off as ruthless to so many who dealt with him.

Mma Fighters Named Silva

'When you don't have time to do all the nice and the letdown and the this and the that, you just have to come in and pull Band-Aids off because then you've got to move one locker room down and do it two more times before you get across the hallway and do it three more times all before the press conference,' Sonnen said. 'There's so many things, and that job went so fast. He was short in his time, made him get to the point and, sure, it could make it rude. But the bottom line is everything was equal. Yeah, Joe had to give you bad news. But Joe was the guy that called in the first place to make your dreams come true. That gets forgotten over time, and all you remember is the negative interaction.'