UFC eye 2017

A Kiwi may be one of the headline acts for the biggest event in UFC history today but the wait continues for the world’s premier mixed martial arts promotion to return to these shores.

It’s been two years since New Zealand hosted its first and only UFC card, at Auckland’s Vector Arena.

In February, Tom Wright, the UFC director of operations for Canada, Australia and New Zealand, said dates for a return to this country had been ‘‘penciled in’’ for the end of the year.

Speaking ahead of UFC 200, which sees Mark Hunt and Brock Lesnar square off in the co-main event, Wright remains committed to bringing the organisation back to the city of Hunt’s birth.

However, it won’t be until 2017 at the earliest.

‘‘We still haven’t finalised our plans for the fourth quarter of this year, let alone 2017,’’ Wright said from Las Vegas.

‘‘But I’m here working on some global meetings this week and we’re going to start the process of planning out 2017 and I, for one, would like to see us come back to Auckland.

‘‘It’s way too early to speculate but I can tell you that it’s a priority for me and it’s a priority for the organisation to continue to have our sport grow across that whole region.’’

Since UFC Fight Night in Auckland in June, 2014, there have been four events in Australia with another reported to take place in November.

UFC 193 in Melbourne last year set the company’s attendance record of 56,214 at Etihad Stadium, with gate takings of close to $10 million.

It’s highly unlikely that New Zealand would be in the market for such a high-profile card, which was headlined by women’s superstar Ronda Rousey.

But Wright said scheduling decisions are not based on revenue alone.

‘‘It’s a question of timing, it’s a question of venue availability and it’s a question of overall scheduling. Remember, we’ll put on 40-odd shows around the world,’’ he said.

‘‘Obviously, Australia is a bigger market but we have a great business in New Zealand, we’ve got great fighters from New Zealand and we’d like to see this happen.’’

Regardless of whether the UFC returns to New Zealand, the 42-year-old former K1 world kickboxing champion may have bigger fish to fry should things go to plan against Lesnar.

For a brief period, the heavyweight duo were elevated to the headline act after Jon Jones, who was due to fight Daniel Cormier for the light heavyweight title, was stood down for a potential doping violation on Thursday.

The women’s bantamweight title fight between Miesha Tate and Amanda Nunes has since been given top billing with Cormier to meet Brazilian great Anderson Silva.

Yet with Lesnar, the former heavyweight champion and payper-view king, returning to the UFC after five years in the WWE his bout with Hunt is arguably the most anticipated of the day.

It continues an incredible comeback story for Hunt, who six years ago was offered US$300,000 by the UFC just to leave the company after a five-fight losing streak.

Of course, he rejected the money, resurrected his career and gained a huge following along the way courtesy of his brutal knockout power.

Now, with the world watching on, the ‘‘Super Samoan’’ has the chance to prove he belongs at the pinnacle of the sport.

‘‘Brock Lesnar is a former heavyweight champion, obviously a WWE star, and he’s got global presence but he’s never fought anybody like Mark Hunt,’’ Wright said.

‘‘This is going to be a really big opportunity for Mark to show what he’s capable of doing.’’

Successive first-round knockouts have lifted Hunt to No 8 in the heavyweight division. Although, with Lesnar not ranked, he has repeatedly said that victory would do little to push his claims for a title shot. Wright disagreed. ‘‘He’s proven himself. He knocked out ‘Bigfoot’ (Antonio Silva) at UFC 193 in Melbourne and he knocked out (Frank) Mir in Brisbane in March,’’ he said. ‘‘A third straight knockout would really move him up in the rankings.’’