Dana White says he is 'one or two days away' from buying a private island to hold UFC fights during the coronavirus pandemic.

The fight promoter has assured fans that he plans to keep the company going during the outbreak, with UFC 249 to go ahead at a 'top secret venue' on 18 April - with fights being 'pumped out every week' for two months.

After that, he revealed things will then move to this mystery island, which will see fighters flown in on private planes to compete - though he says there will be no fans and that all athletes and staff will be 'tested and tested'.

The 50-year-old told TMZ Sports: "We've been working on this thing since the world fell apart. Every day when we would work on something, we'd wake up the next day and the world would change, so this has definitely been the hardest thing that I've ever tried to do, ever.

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White says UFC is back in business from 18 April. Credit: PA

"So I locked this venue up for two months. I have this venue for two months, I'm setting up shop here. We're gonna be pumping out fights every week.

"I am also a day or two away from securing a private island, I have a private island that I've secured, we're getting the infrastructure put in now, so we're gonna start doing international fights, too, with international fighters.

"Cause I won't be able to get international fighters, all of em, into the US, so I have a private island, I'm gonna fly em all into the private island and have em doing international fights from there."

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He added: "So as of April 18, the UFC is back up and running."

Explaining a bit more about how this bonkers idea will work, White said they plan to test everyone who lands on the island for coronavirus.

Khabib Nurmagomedov won't be competing, however. Credit: PA

He went on: "We have all our own planes and everything. So they're gonna fly into the island, get the fighters.

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"First of all, there won't be any fans at this thing. There will be no fans. And yes, everybody is gonna be pre-tested, tested and tested and tested.

"We're gonna make sure that 100 percent healthy athletes, healthy athletic commission people, healthy judges, referees, my production people, that everybody there is gonna be healthy, we're gonna make sure everybody's gonna be safe."

White also confirmed that despite the rumours, Joe Rogan would be at UFC 249.