UFC reveals timeframe for potential 'big numbered event' in Dublin
Well before Conor McGregor made his Octagon debut, the UFC had plans of making a big jump in the European market, and the arrival of the "Notorious" one helped the promotion achieve some of their goals in the region faster than anticipated.
For years, McGregor has said that it was his goal to treat his hometown of Dublin to a UFC show in a soccer stadium and it looks like that dream is closer to becoming a reality with UFC's Vice-President and General Manager for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, James Elliot, saying Irish fans could be less than 18-months away from such an event.
"Croke Park and the Aviva Stadium are two places that we've looked at, we've made no secret about that," Elliot told Dublin's Newstalk.com. "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.
"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
A packed house last October in Dublin
The last UFC event in Dublin was a UFC Fight Night in October of 2015. It was originally headlined by a lightweight bout between Dustin Poirier and Joseph Duffy and featured a co-main event of now-champion Stipe Miocic against title contender Ben Rothwell. However, injuries forced both those fights off the card and Dublin native Paddy Holohan was promoted to the main event.
Despite that, the card was still well attended and encouraged the UFC to work toward bringing an even better event to the city next time.
"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."
One hang-up for UFC pay-per-view in Dublin is the eight-hour time difference in the region and the 11 PM curfew. This would force the UFC to hold the event during the daytime in North America, something the promotion has previously said wasn't out of the question.
"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."
