UFC to return to Jacksonville's VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena; Dana White hopes for 'full crowd' at event

For the second time in 11 months, UFC is coming to the First Coast.

And this time, it's planning to draw a crowd — in a sharp change from the norm during the coronavirus pandemic.

Dana White, head of the mixed martial arts organization, announced in a video posted to Twitter that UFC 261 will be held at Jacksonville's VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena on April 24.

White, who made the announcement on Twitter, said the event will include a "full crowd" of an estimated 15,000 fans, which would be equivalent to the arena's listed maximum capacity.

Since the pandemic began large-scale disruption in March 2020, most sporting events, particularly those held indoors, have been held with reduced capacities due to COVID-19 protocols.

Portions of the fight card remain to be determined, but White announced UFC 261 will include three title fights.

MORE:Twitter reacts to full-capacity UFC 261

The title fights are welterweights, Kamaru Usman vs. Jorge Masvidal; women's flyweights, Valentina Shevchenko vs. Jessica Andrade; and women's strawweights, Weili Zhang vs. Rose Namajunas.

UFC made its first Jacksonville stop on May 9, 2020, the first major United States sporting event after the coronavirus pandemic had paused most athletic events for nearly two months.

That event, held without spectators inside the octagon at the arena, included two title fights as Justin Gaethje stopped Tony Ferguson and Henry Cejudo defeated Dominick Cruz in the pay-per-view UFC 249.

During its stop at the arena, UFC also held two additional Fight Nights on the following Wednesday and Saturday.

After the earlier fights in Jacksonville, White had said he planned to return UFC to the First Coast in the future.

"I have been waiting a year for this day to tell you. We are back," White said in the video.

It's not yet clear which COVID-19 safety protocols will be in effect for a "full crowd" event at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. Other events at the arena, including Jacksonville Icemen hockey games, have been held with sharply reduced capacities. The average attendance for Icemen home games this season has been 3,278, as recorded by the ECHL. 

UFC itself has not held a full-capacity crowd since the start of the pandemic. The prior May 2020 fights in Jacksonville included no spectators and only a minimal amount of media and support staff, all subject to testing, masking and social distancing. UFC's other events during the pandemic have all occurred either in Las Vegas or in the United Arab Emirates.

Among the main attractions in Jacksonville will be the rematch of Usman and Masvidal, who previously squared off last July at UFC 251 on the so-called "Fight Island" in the United Arab Emirates. Usman won by unanimous decision.

Elsewhere in American professional sports, crowds for most indoor events remain tightly limited. The Centers for Disease Control has found that the coronavirus spreads more readily indoors than outdoors, describing indoor spaces as "more risky."

As listed by the NBA, 14 of its teams have yet to open their arenas to fans at all this year, although the Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons and Toronto Raptors (currently holding games at Tampa's Amalie Arena) have announced plans to do so within the next six days.

In the NHL, 15 franchises are not yet permitting fans, though the Boston Bruins and Buffalo Sabres expect to open their arenas to limited numbers by next week. In both the NBA and NHL, those teams that are allowing crowds have usually restricted them to between 10 and 25 percent of arena capacity.