UFC Pay-Per-View In Dublin May Be Closer Than You Think
UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor may just get his wish of a future title defense it his hometown of Dublin, Ireland in the near future.
In a recent interview, UFC Executive James Elliot spoke on a possible Dublin pay-per-view (PPV) event in Croke Park or Aviva Stadium:
“Croke Park and the Aviva Stadium are two places that we’ve looked at, we’ve made no secret about that,” Elliot said during an interview with News Talk Dublin.
“Conor (McGregor) has certainly made no secret about the fact that he wants to fight in Dublin. It’s something that’s on the agenda.
While Elliot stated that some moving parts still need to fall into place, the UFC may not be that far off from the long awaited Dublin PPV event:
“The numbers are getting closer in terms of how we could make it work, there’s still a lot of moving parts … I feel we’re not that far away, certainly within the 18-month time frame, that’s something that we’re focused on,” he said.
Given Dublin’s history of record setting ticket sales, UFC brass was moved to make the big push for what should be a massive Dublin event according to Elliot:
“We’ve sold out the two shows in Dublin in record time, even when the card was decimated through injuries in October — the fans still turned out and supported us really well,” Elliot said.
“That did not go unnoticed by everybody in Vegas. We certainly understand how big the fanbase is in Ireland, and how big it could be.”
While it’s no secret the UFC has been adamant on expanding it’s European market, the presence of ‘The Notorious One’ certainly will play a huge factor in the promotion’s Dublin pitch:
“It would be a fantastic brand play for us to have a big numbered event in Europe.” Elliot said. “It’s something that we’re definitely focused on. It’s very easy for us to see what it could do for our business — we just need to convince the right people that it’s the right thing to do at the right time.”
A PPV event in Dublin would no doubt do huge numbers, and the possibility of having McGregor defend his 145-pound strap on the card would certainly be the UFC’s targeted headliner. That is considering he remains in the featherweight division…
