Kai Kara-France fought when the UFC lasted visited Auckland in 2020, beating Tyson Nam. Photo / Getty Images
Kai Kara-France fought when the UFC lasted visited Auckland in 2020, beating Tyson Nam. Photo / Getty Images
Mixed martial arts is a sport on the rise Downunder, and the world’s top promotion continues to take notice.
The Herald understands the UFC is hopeful of a return to New Zealand in 2024, with plenty of appetite to host another fight night at Spark Arena given the success oftheir previous visits.
The UFC was last in New Zealand in February 2020, where the fight night headlined by Kiwi lightweight Dan Hooker’s split decision win over Paul Felder drew a sell-out crowd of more than 10,000.
Speaking to the Herald this week, UFC executive Dave Shaw confirmed a return to Auckland was a point of interest, but could not give a concrete indication as to when that could happen.
“If you look at the success the last couple of times we’ve been to Spark Arena, it’s always on the top of our list when we look at where our events should be going when we’re selecting them for the Australia and New Zealand events.
“I think pound-for-pound the number of high-quality athletes that have come out of New Zealand – especially with City Kickboxing – rivals all other countries around the world. For us, we feel very fortunate that whether it’s Dan, Kai [Kara-France] or Israel [Adesanya], whenever we come back to Auckland it will be an exciting event.”
The UFC will be back Downunder for UFC 293 at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney in September, the second pay-per-view event in Australia this year. It will be a sign of things to come for the region, with the UFC agreeing to bring three pay-per-views to Sydney over the next four years beginning with the September card, and Shaw told Fox Sports Australia the company would be bringing a minimum of two events Downunder each year with the next one potentially being as early as February.
It bodes well for Auckland hosting another event in the next couple of years.
“When the team in Las Vegas is speaking to Peter Kloczko (UFC vice president for Australia and New Zealand) about mapping out the plan for events over the next couple of years, Auckland is always very high on the list,” Shaw told the Herald.
“But you know how it works in pro sports when you’re looking to secure dates; you speak to the venue, figure out when it’s available and if it matches up with your calendar. I can’t tell you when, but it’s high on the list.”
There will be a decidedly Kiwi look to the card at UFC 293 in September with five of the 10 confirmed fights featuring athletes either from or training in New Zealand. The other five bouts confirmed feature Australian athletes, meaning there will be homegrown talent in every one of the fights lined up, with more bookings yet to be announced.
Israel Adesanya celebrates with his UFC middleweight belt. Photo / Getty Images
Among those, Israel Adesanya is expected to make his return as the headline act, however there has not been any indication from the promotion about who he will be fighting.
The confusion around Adesanya’s next fight comes after reports that consensus No 1 contender Dricus du Plessis wanted to take some time to heal from an ankle injury before fighting for the title. It is expected that No 6-ranked middleweight Sean Strickland will get the fight in his place, however Strickland has sent mixed signals on social media this week as to whether that will be the case.
While Shaw was confident the event would have a high-level main event booked if they couldn’t get anything confirmed for the UFC middleweight championship, Adesanya’s team is confident he will be performing in the octagon on September 10.
“[UFC boss] Dana [White] has likely got a number of different scenarios that he is weighing. Sometimes these things just take a little bit of time to finalise and bring to the public,” Shaw said.
“Whether Izzy fights or not – yes, he has been very vocal about wanting to fight on the Sydney card – there’s no doubt in our minds that this will be a world-class card for a world-class event.”
