News broke this week regarding three different locations that might soon be treated to UFC cards.
For one city, they’ll be getting a “Fight Night” card that has become an annual tradition for them by this point. For another, it will be a return more than five years in the making. And for a third, a potential first-time encounter with the top MMA organization could be around the corner.
Here’s a recap of UFC’s latest event news and rumors.
June 14th – Atlanta, Georgia
UFC is currently looking at heading back to Atlanta, Georgia, USA by June 14th, per reports.
While UFC has not “locked-in” a location, the promotion is eyeing Atlanta as a destination for a “Fight Night” card, per Nolan King of MMA Junkie.
The event, if confirmed, would be Atlanta’s first time hosting a UFC card since 2019. While the 510,000-populated city is quite heavily invested in sports—with major teams in baseball, football, and basketball all in the city—Atlanta has only hosted four UFC cards since the promotion first visited the city in 2008.
Atlanta’s last card was UFC 236, which was headlined by a lightweight title clash between Dustin Poirier and Max Holloway.
It was reported by multiple outlets this week—including MMA Junkie and MMA Fighting—that a 125-pound fight between former strawweight champ Rose Namajunas and contender Miranda Maverick has been booked for the card.
Namajunas suffered a setback in the main event of a November 2nd UFC card, losing a five-round decision to Erin Blanchfield. The bout slowed her momentum following back-to-back “Fight Night” headliner wins earlier in the year.
Maverick has been on a roll as of late, with a December victory over Jamey-Lyn Horth marking her fourth consecutive win since mid-2023.
July 26th – Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
For the seventh consecutive year, UFC will head to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, to host fights.
The promotion will present a “Fight Night” at the Etihad Arena on July 26th, as announced Thursday.
Abu Dhabi has for years paid for UFC to host events in the country, with figures from the promotion previously claiming that they earn as much as $25 million per trip to the city. Last year, UFC hosted a summer “Fight Night” at Etihad Arena, then returned later in the year for a PPV card.
No fights have been reported for the show thus far.
Azerbaijan Reportedly Being Considered For Show
UFC is looking to possibly add a 29th country to its list of visits in June.
Azerbaijan is being targeted for a possible event in three months, per Ariel Helwani.
The South Caucasus country of over 10 million has never hosted a UFC event before, although it is geographically surrounded by many countries with a strong MMA culture: Russia and Georgia—both of which are currently represented on UFC’s list of active champions—are nearby.
No details are known regarding if the event would be in collaboration with the country, similar to the deals UFC has with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. However, it wouldn’t come as a surprise if such collaboration was in place. The country has annually paid for a Formula 1 grand prix since 2017, an event which costs a fortune to put on.
Two fighters currently fly the flag of Azerbaijan in the UFC: Lightweights Rafael Fiziev and Nazim Sadykhov.
The biggest MMA presence from Azerbaijan in recent years arguably hasn’t come in the UFC, but instead Japan’s RIZIN promotion. The brand has seen two major Azerbaijanis become stars in the company, first Tofiq Musayev and then more recently Vugar Karamov.
RIZIN hosted a card at the National Gymnastics Arena in Baku, Azerbaijan in 2023, with a fight between Karamov and Chihiro Suzuki for the featherweight title serving as the main event. Suzuki won in 78 seconds via strikes.
Knockdown News 