After the deserted island, the Indian reserve. According to the New York Times , the UFC, the largest professional mixed martial arts (MMA) league, wants to circumvent the prohibition directives related to the coronavirus which has stopped sport in the United States, by organizing a fought on a reserve in California on April 18. The promoters had for a time announced that they had found a "private island" to organize their next fights behind closed doors, but it would seem that the idea fell through.
According to the American daily, Dana White, patron of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, plans to hold the evening "UFC 249" at the Tachi Palace Resort Casino, in the town of Lemoore not far from the Sequoia National Forest. Indeed, the casino, closed since March 20 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, is located on land belonging to the Tachi-Yokut tribe.
The UFC wants to confuse
Indian reserves, under the tutelage of the United States federal government (Department of the Interior), generally operate independently of the states in which they are found. By organizing the event on these tribal lands, the organizers could escape sanctions from the California State Athletic Commission which governs combat sports.
UFC 249 was originally scheduled to offer a fight between lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov to American Tony Ferguson, but the Russian gave up due to the coronavirus. Instead, Ferguson would face fellow countryman Justin Gaethje.
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