UFC open to staging more NZ events
The UFC returns to New Zealand for the first time in almost three years this weekend, but mixed martial arts fans may not have to wait as long for the global promotion to come back.
Following Israel Adesanya’s middleweight title triumph and the success of his City Kickboxing team-mates, local interest in MMA is at an all-time high with Sunday’s Fight Night in Auckland – the UFC’s third event in the city since 2014 – set to be the biggest yet.
Headlined by a top-10 lightweight clash between hometown hero Dan Hooker and American Paul Felder, Spark Arena is on track to sell out with officials expecting the highest gate and attendance they have had in New Zealand. The UFC has also secured a huge coup by having the event broadcast on free-to-air TV for the first time here.
The organisation is eager to build on that growth.
The UFC holds 42 events each year, with two or three reserved for Australia and New Zealand, although the majority of those have taken place across the Tasman.
They remain wary of diluting the product so while there’s unlikely to be an increase in overall events, UFC senior vicepresident of international and content David Shaw said the country had made a strong case to appear on the Australasian rotation more often.
‘‘There’s never been a better time to consider that than now,’’ Shaw told Stuff. ‘‘You look at the talent level and there’s seven or eight Kiwis on the roster. We’ve got four Kiwis fighting this weekend, including Hooker who’s seventh ranked [lightweight], Kai Kara-France who’s eighth ranked [flyweight], and ‘Izzy’ [Adesanya] will be here.
‘‘We’re heading into Sunday’s event and it will be the biggest gate and biggest attendance we’ve ever had here.
‘‘That type of momentum helps us. When you’ve got a level of athletic excellence like you see here . . . that’s just going to continue to propel the number of athletes that are training MMA and get to the UFC.’’
Adesanya is a notable absence on this weekend’s card as he prepares to defend his title
‘‘You look at the talent level and there’s seven or eight Kiwis on the roster.’’ David Shaw
UFC senior vice-president
against Yoel Romero at UFC 248 in Las Vegas next month.
Having quickly developed into the one of the promotion’s most popular stars, it’s highly likely Adesanya will compete only on such marquee pay-per-view events, at least while he holds the belt.
The majority of those take place in the US and given the size of the New Zealand market, that could count against Adesanya defending his title on home soil.
But Shaw did not rule out the possibility of holding a PPV event in New Zealand. In fact, he highlighted several factors working in its favour, none more so than the high level of talent and favourable time difference to the US.
‘‘One of the most important factors is that you’ve got a payper-view market that doesn’t require us changing any of our planning,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s just a matter of the timing. We always like to have pay-per-views with local champs so when we look to Brazil and having a pay-per-view we’re stacking the card with Brazilians, the same goes for Australia.
‘‘The fact that we’ve got a number of prolific athletes coming out of the country lends itself to potentially having a pay-per-view event at some point.’’
Shaw said they were also looking at other options to boost their presence in New Zealand and Australia, starting with Dana White’s Contender Series.
The Contender Series is a feeder competition where athletes compete for UFC contracts. The inaugural season took place in the US in 2017 and expanded to Brazil the following year, with an Asian edition at the new UFC Performance Institute in Shanghai announced for this year.
‘‘The Contender Series would be a great tool for cultivating new athletes. It’s a model we want to continue to role out in a variety of areas around the world.’’