Get a grip! Second Glasgow date for UFC
THE prayers of Scottish fight fans were finally answered yesterday after it was revealed the Ultimate Fighting Championship will be coming to Glasgow for a second time, writes Scott Mullen.
Two years ago the martial art phenomenon swept into the country for the first time in a jaw-dropping UFC Fight Night 72 show at the SSE Hydro.
Featuring Scottish fighters Joanne Calderwood, Stevie Ray and Robert Whiteford, the trio all won through to thrill a partisan local crowd who had waited over two decades to get a UFC event to Scotland.
Their patience for a second was not quite as stretched with the news the UFC will descend on Glasgow on July 16, two days shy of the two-year anniversary of its last visit to the same arena.
As well as Glasgow, the UFC will visit Rotterdam in September before moving on to Gdansk on October 21.
Joe Carr, Senior Vice President, UFC International and Content said: “Europe remains an incredibly important market for our business and has been key to the international growth we’ve seen in recent years.
“Our debut events in Glasgow and Rotterdam not only sold out, but were among the most successful that we held in 2015 and 2016 respectively.
“So the decision to return to those cities was an easy one. We now have four European champions and when you add to that the exponential growth in this market, it’s exciting to consider what the future of European MMA will look like.”
Details of who will fight in the Glasgow event have yet to be announced.
SNOOKER Former world snooker champion Stuart Bingham has said he will accept whatever punishment comes his way after admitting he broke the sport’s betting rules.
Bingham, 40, was charged this week with a breach of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association regulations.
Although the organisation stressed the alleged offence does not entail match manipu- lation or corruption, it was determined Bingham had a case to answer.
Bingham said: “I was not clear on the rules. I did not know I was not allowed to bet on other players’ matches, I thought it was just my own I could not bet on.”
Bingham could be fined or face a ban, or both. One yardstick for the punishment coming his way is the £5000 fine and six-month suspended ban handed to fellow pro Alfie Burden in January for similar offences