Dana White is one of the fight game's best promoters and he knows how to tell a good story.
Put a Kiwi journalist in Las Vegas asking about when a UFC show will return to New Zealand and White will play the game.
The world's biggest MMA promotion made their long-awaited debut in Aotearoa in June when 8089 people filed in to Vector Arena in Auckland to watch UFC Fight Night 43.
Aside from Kiwi James Te Huna getting submitted by Nate Marquardt during the first round of the main event, the night was a screaming success: The gate was good, there were enough bodies in attendance to justify the trip and there were exciting fights.
So when the Herald asked White what it would take to have another event in New Zealand in 2015 the outspoken president of the UFC replied with: "New Zealand doesn't need anything to help its cause, it was a great event [in June], it was successful in every way possible. We will be back there for sure, it's just a matter of when."
The last part of White's statement gave him an out as he wouldn't commit to a date but he acknowledged that in a congested calendar, it was tough to please everyone.
"There's so many places to go ... Everybody's sort of pitching their cities because everybody wants an event to come back. Believe me, we want to come back."
So the UFC will come back to New Zealand, but the date remains in question.
The UFC unveiled their tentative 2015 calendar during a glitzy afternoon at the Smith Center for the Performing Arts in Las Vegas today as they announced more than 40 event dates with few confirmed locations.
Fight cards are always subject to change and White said they would look to come to Australia a couple of times too, while there are new markets such as Poland and Scotland that could host events next year.
The UFC are continually expanding their horizons and White said when he began as president of the organisation more than a decade ago he thought boxing strongholds such as the US, Mexico and the UK would be the biggest markets.
But Australia and New Zealand have proven to be fertile locations with their share of popular fighters emerging from this part of the world such as Mark Hunt, Robert Whittaker and Te Huna.
"We love it down there, whether you're in New Zealand or in Australia, the crowd out there is fantastic, they're knowledgeable; they're huge fight fans," White said.
Hunt was beaten via TKO in the second round by Brazilian Fabricio Werdum in an interim heavyweight title bout at UFC 180 in Mexico City on Sunday and the Kiwi-born striker could be a future headline draw in New Zealand, White said.
"He's a gamer so we'll get him another fight."
White also revealed that had Hunt beaten Werdum, the Super Samoan would have met champion Cain Velasquez for the title proper in Australia in what would have been a huge event.
Hunt, who was born in Auckland but is based in Sydney, is one of the UFC's most popular fighters.
- Daniel Richardson travelled to Las Vegas courtesy of Sky Arena and the UFC