Sydney secures major deal to host UFC events for next four years

BREAKING NEWS FROM UFC PRESIDENT DANA WHITE!!

Sydney has secured a deal to host three UFC Pay Per View events over the next four years. New South Wales Premier Chris Minns unveiled the $16 million partnership on Thursday local time.

UFC Pay Per View events have a broad reach, with the potential to be watched by over 900 million TV households through 50 prominent sports broadcasters in 170 countries.

Globally, there are now over 700 million UFC fans, with a combined following of 233 million across the organization’s social media platforms.

In Australia and New Zealand, UFC boasts a fan base of over 4.3 million people and has accumulated six million followers on social media.

Sydney’s first event, UFC 293, is scheduled for September 10. The card marks the promotion’s return to the city after a six-year hiatus. Israel Adesanya will defend his middleweight title as he faces the winner of a contender fight between Robert Whittaker and Dricus Du Plessis on July 8 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, as revealed last month.

Upon learning about the promotion’s return to New South Wales, Whittaker took to social media on Thursday morning to share his excitement.

“Stoked to have the office come to our backyard in September!” the Australian fighter wrote on Twitter.

Besides Whittaker, another Australian fighter is also set to feature at UFC 293. In the headline fight, Alexander Volkanovski will defend his belt from Mexican interim champion Yair Rodriguez.

If Volkanovski retains his title, he will likely seek a rematch with lightweight champion Islam Makhachev. Islam defeated Volkanovski at UFC 284 in Perth in February and The Great is looking to have his revenge.

However, both Whittaker and Volkanovski are already scheduled to compete at UFC 290 on July 9 in Las Vegas, leaving them with only nine weeks to prepare for the Sydney card.