UK MMA fans have had a lot to get excited about recently. Leon Edwards at the top of the Welterweight division, Tom Aspinall being crowned interim Heavyweight champion and now, they have even more to get up for, with UFC CEO Dana White revealing the UFC will be back in the UK with a huge card later this year.
As of late, speculation has been rife as to if the UFC will be returning to the UK in 2024 and if so, which city they may land in.
White sat down with TNT Sports’ Adam Catterall and discussed the promotions plans for a UK visit this year and revealed that the first announcement is imminent. He said:
“Well, I have an English heavyweight champion and lots of other European stars. But two champs now out of England. That's another thing that was just happened here recently.
“So we have these teams that build all their different pieces to the puzzle. Then we come together with me and then I start trying to fit the pieces of the puzzle together. And I'm like, ‘No, this doesn't fit here. That's got to go.’ You know, that's how it all works. We had these fights that were going on that were like, ‘Wait, we're going to do this where?
“No, we're going to England.We're going to England.’ So, we’re going to England. We're coming and I got great fights lined up for the U.K. fans, and I'm excited to get back there. I haven’t been to England in a minute and I'm excited to get back there.
“We got some badass plans for England!”
But prior to their return to UK soil, the UFC have several big events, with none bigger than the colossal UFC 300 card set to go down at the T-Mobile Arena on April 13th. White spoke in depth about how important it has always been to the promotion to make sure the
“Any time you go into an event where it's 100, 200, 300 and there's these unbelievable expectations and you want to put on good cards all year and you're dealing with personal problems, injuries. The list goes on and on. It is the hardest part of the business. It's why it's the part of the business that needs the most focus and attention.
“When we hit 100, it was funny. I'll tell you a story. So me and Lorenzo are at the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City. When we first started putting on these events and we're walking down the hall and there's these two old men and they're fighting, screaming at each other, you know, in the hallway and Lorenzo is like “That's going to be me and you at UFC 100.
“Right. And this is like UFC 31 or something. And, you know, 100 seemed like it was going to be we're doing five events a year. So we were figuring we were going to be our, you know, seventies when UFC 100 would come. Well, obviously, the thing took off. And, you know, we're doing 44 events a year. So 100 came quick and here I am talking about 300.
“So we put together, you know, you know, a card of great stars. And then it became a thing after 100. So 200 we go out and this time we're looking at ‘How do we make 300 different than 100, 200 and anything we've ever done?’ What I wanted was, I wanted it to be when the first prelim of the night starts, you have to be in front of your television.”
And UFC 300 is just that. The card is stacked with talent from beginning to end and White believes, if all goes to plan, UFC 300 could be the greatest ever card in the history of combat sports. He said:
“You can't miss one fight on this card. We have 12 former and current UFC champions or interim champions. 7 pound for pound fighters, almost every single fight features a ranked contender, 16 ranked fighters in total. And it's expected to break every record at the T-Mobile Arena with a $15 million gate. So UFC 300 is the greatest combat sports card ever assembled.
“I mean, if you go back throughout history, even boxing, look at a boxing card that's ever been done, even in the Don King days when he was stacking these cards full of the first prelim of the night is figure eight on Cody Garbrandt that it just all the way up to the main event. So when I told you earlier about the bells and whistles, bells and whistles are done now.
“You know, we'll put on an unbelievable live event that night, will put on an unbelievable television show on pay per view. And now the fighters have to go in and do their part. And if the fighters deliver, this could end up being the greatest the greatest card of all time. UFC 300. Now, if this happens and this aligns now what? What's the next challenge to beat UFC 300?”
You can see the full interview, below:
