UFC president Dana White says the promotion is close to securing a private island in a wild plan to keep staging fights amid the coronavirus lockdown.The idea, White told TMZ Sports, is to fly fighters in and out of a private island for weekly fights.It comes after White confirmed that Justin Gaethje will replace Khabib Nurmagomedov in the main event at UFC 249, with the UFC president teasing the fight will take place “somewhere on EARTH!”But there are plans to continue to host fights even after the April 18 event, despite any obvious logistical problems.“I am a day or two away from securing a private island," White said."I have a private island that I've secured; we're getting the infrastructure put in now, so I'm gonna start doing the international fights, too.“With international fighters, because I won't be able to get international fighters into the U.S., I have a private island that I'm gonna start flying them all in and doing international fights from there.“So as of April 18th, the UFC is back up and running."

There is no indication of where the private island will be, or even what part of the world it’s in.

But the UFC’s attempts to remain operational while the rest of the sporting world is in lockdown are fascinating.

UFC 249 is still slated to take place, with the full card being revealed on Monday.

Rose Namajunas will fight Jessica Andrade and Francis Ngannou will take on Jairzinho Rozenstruik.

Greg Hardy, Ray Borg and Jeremy Stephens are also on the card.

Every person involved in the fights - from production staff to fighters - will be thoroughly screened by a medical team before being allowed into the venue to ensure safety precautions are followed as best they can.

White also said that rumours Joe Rogan will not call UFC 249 due to health concerns are nonsense and that he will be present.