White announced that 15,000 fans would be able to watch the action at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, where there will be three title fights including the main event rematch between reigning men’s welterweight champion Kamaru Usman and Miami fan favorite Jorge Masvidal.
“I have been waiting a year for this day to tell you we are back,” White said excitedly in a Twitter video.
“UFC 261 on April 24 will be in Jacksonville, Florida, with a full house of fans – full capacity at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena.”
White went on to list a stacked event topped by Usman vs Masvidal and also featuring two women’s title fights as flyweight queen Valentina Shevchenko faces Jessica Andrade and strawweight ruler Zhang Weili defends her crown against former champion Rose Namajunas.
“This is a stacked card in front of 15,000 UFC fans,” White exclaimed. “Ladies and gentlemen, we are back!”
The event will be the first since UFC 248 on March 7, 2020, to take place in front of a crowd with no capacity limit.
During the initial days of the pandemic, the UFC put on several shows in Jacksonville but without fans in attendance.
Since then it has alternated between hosting shows at its own Apex venue in Las Vegas and the purpose-built facilities on ‘Fight Island’ in Abu Dhabi.
The lightweight bout between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier in January at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi allowed a limited number of fans in, but the venue was far from capacity.