Former UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov has big plans for his MMA promotion Eagle FC. The former champion appeared Wednesday at a press conference ahead of the promotion’s U.S. debut next year.
The promotion announced a new signing, their intention to unveil new weight classes, and the plan to host numerous events in the U.S.
Eagle FC is expected to make its U.S. debut on January 22nd in Miami, Florida. The event is set to include big names in MMA including Ray Borg, Renan Barao, Rashad Evans, and Sergei Kharitonov.
Nurmagomedov intends the event to just be the start of the promotion’s foray into the country.
“I want Eagle FC to become [a] global promotion … We’re going to make events around the world,” said Nurmagomedov, who stated his intention to do seven or eight events in the state of Florida next year.
The promotion announced a big signing on Friday, revealing that former UFC fighter Kevin Lee has signed a multi-fight deal.
Lee was reportedly released by the UFC after an 18-fight run that included six main event appearances.
EFC is expected to have special weight classes of 165 and 175-pounds. Lee’s promotional debut is expected to happen at the 165-pound weight class, per a report from Ariel Helwani.
Lee hopes to make his debut in the first quarter of 2022.
“It will be a great start to a partnership, and we’ll start it on March 11th. We’ll go in there and put on a show,” said Lee at a press conference Wednesday.
The promotion will have their events exclusively broadcasted on the new internet service FLXcast. The platform is set to broadcast the promotion’s U.S. debut for free.
Eagle FC, also known as EFC, has mostly operated out of Russia in previous years. The promotion was incredibly active in 2021, hosting over a dozen events in the year.
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