When will UFC to return to Ireland

MrStuffins

Well, not really.

But apparently they're coming here every year for Paddys Day!

Might as well get it out of the way now, someone is gonna jump to that conclusion after this Paddy's Day passes and we have no event!

I, for one, don't think we're very high on the list of places to come back to. I'm sure Dana would love to come bak, but why would he when he is cracking markets like Germany (with 81m potential fans) and Oz!

GSPfan

What is this thread for again?

jaykhunter

so are UFC doing a show on Paddy's Day in Ireland on 2011 or 2012? Are there any actual plans to come to ireland over the next two years?

Niall0

No one knows what the UFCs actual plans are, they usually dont announce anything official till a couple of months before the event.

JohnMc1

jaykhunter wrote: »

so are UFC doing a show on Paddy's Day in Ireland on 2011 or 2012? Are there any actual plans to come to ireland over the next two years?

Now that the Setanta deal is done I wouldn't be surprised if Ireland is not even a blip on Zuffa's radar anymore.

Tones69

This video seems fairly hopeful they will be back next year, BUT ya never know i guess we may just wait n see

http://www.mmafighting.com/2010/07/05/marshall-zelaznik-confirms-ufc-120-discusses-european-expansion/ from about 4min 20 on

JohnMc1

Tones69 wrote: »

This video seems fairly hopeful they will be back next year, BUT ya never know i guess we may just wait n see

http://www.mmafighting.com/2010/07/05/marshall-zelaznik-confirms-ufc-120-discusses-european-expansion/ from about 4min 20 on

As a wise man once said "Ofcourse he could be lying. You have to bare the possibility that he could be lying."

MrStuffins

Well he already promised to come back here in 2010....... that's not happening!

We're nowhere on Dana's agenda!

Mr. Loverman

He's only interested in having events in markets they want to develop. Which makes sense.

Ireland is a tiny market and probably as developed as it's going to get.

Tones69

Mr. Loverman wrote: »

He's only interested in having events in markets they want to develop. Which makes sense.

Ireland is a tiny market and probably as developed as it's going to get.

Imo any ufc that sells out 10k tickets in 24 hours is worthy of coming back, so id say they will be back in 2011 some time , hopefully

DeVore

Hopefully what they see as a possible angle is that EVERYWHERE celebrates Paddy's day so the idea of a live show from Dublin then might be make it "appointment viewing" as they say in the trade

I'd love to see it here, needless to say!

DeV.

scudzilla

DeVore wrote: »

Hopefully what they see as a possible angle is that EVERYWHERE celebrates Paddy's day so the idea of a live show from Dublin then might be make it "appointment viewing" as they say in the trade

I'd love to see it here, needless to say!

DeV.

Even on Paddy's Day?? All the idiots that come into town, all the shiit, add 12,000+ fight fans into the mix, oh dear

MrStuffins

scudzilla wrote: »

Even on Paddy's Day?? All the idiots that come into town, all the shiit, add 12,000+ fight fans into the mix, oh dear

This is a good point.

Even walking down the Quays last year after the Dublin event was dodgy. So many lads who all of sudden thought they were Chuck Liddell!

DeVore

True, you can never rule out the meathead factor, particularly when its mixed with Plastic Paddy Nationalism. :rolleyes:

Still, I didnt get to see it the last time and I'd love to attend.

DeV.

cbenson

Tones69 wrote: »

Imo any ufc that sells out 10k tickets in 24 hours is worthy of coming back, so id say they will be back in 2011 some time , hopefully

Hard to argue with economics! Lets hope it happens sooner rather than later.:)

Mr. Loverman

cbenson wrote: »

Hard to argue with economics! Lets hope it happens sooner rather than later.:)

Yeah but they make their money from PPVs, not ticket sales!

Forgetting the small Irish market for a second, having shows early in the day in the US is not good for business.

scudzilla

5 mins into this :D:D:D:D:D:D

Dana White : WE OWE IRELAND ONE BIG TIME :D:D:D:D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXiarqabIYw

The Freeman

very good, hope its a better card than the likes of 122 when it does come back to the o2

GaryW

Hung out with John Joe in Oberhaussen at the weekend, glad he reitterated my question to Dana during the Q&A about more title fights (Dana made a comment about every fighter fighting 3 times a year so I asked if we have 7 divisions (incl WEC) are we likely to see 21 title fights a year, we certainly dont get 15 a year atm) Dana asked where I was from, I said Dublin and he went back into usual crap about pound for pound best crowd blah blah blah... Said he was taking the sport everywhere, I asked him to bring it back to dublin cause its getting expensive travelling, made a point about lack of BIG title fights this side of the pond and he shrugged it off... but looking at the above interview maybe Dana realises we want the UFC back here and maybe he will make it happen... Have it on good authority (Joe Silva) next event in europe is in Liverpool Echo Arena at the end of May no more details as yet

That_Guy

Nice. Hopefully that is true. Would love to go to it. Missed it the last time as I was out of the country.

empacher

ufc 127 rumored to be the paddy's day show is now earlier in Scotland, and ufc 128 is on in abu dhabi on the 19th of march, on wikipedia while the also have space for the dublin show on wikipedia, id assume itl before that maybe the week before, but it sounds like were getting a fight night..................yippe

scudzilla

empacher wrote: »

ufc 127 rumored to be the paddy's day show is now earlier in Scotland, and ufc 128 is on in abu dhabi on the 19th of march, on wikipedia while the also have space for the dublin show on wikipedia, id assume itl before that maybe the week before, but it sounds like were getting a fight night..................yippe

Aint happening, UFC are going back to Sydney at end of March, quite a few people have heard from very reliable sources while in Germany that next UK/Ireland card will be in Liverpool at end of May.

Don't believe anything on Wiki, i could go on there now and edit that page to say that the New Years Eve event is gonna be held in the Big Top Circus in Swords

unknown13

Mods is there anyway of changing this title to: "The return of UFC to Ireland discussion" as this title is a bit misleading.

MrStuffins

unknown13 wrote: »

Mods is there anyway of changing this title to: "The return of UFC to Ireland discussion" as this title is a bit misleading.

lol

Mellor

anyone that was mislead my the previous title (given the date) has no place is a discussion really.

Tones69

scudzilla wrote: »

Aint happening, UFC are going back to Sydney at end of March, quite a few people have heard from very reliable sources while in Germany that next UK/Ireland card will be in Liverpool at end of May.

Don't believe anything on Wiki, i could go on there now and edit that page to say that the New Years Eve event is gonna be held in the Big Top Circus in Swords

Ufc is back ib sydney feb 27th. I think they will deffo be back but could be end of next year, dana knows its a good market with plenty of loyal fans

unknown13

Tones69 wrote: »

Ufc is back ib sydney feb 27th. I think they will deffo be back but could be end of next year, dana knows its a good market with plenty of loyal fans

With Bisping headlining. Great start to the card by the UFC.

Tones69

unknown13 wrote: »

With Bisping headlining. Great start to the card by the UFC.

Nothing announced yet, i reckon he'l be co-main for this one, anyway do people expect the top top fighters and title holders to fight on every card and in europe etc?

unknown13

Tones69 wrote: »

Nothing announced yet, i reckon he'l be co-main for this one, anyway do people expect the top top fighters and title holders to fight on every card and in europe etc?

The card according to Junkie is:

Bisping -V- Rivera
Condit -V- Lytle

I can't really see the UFC bringing the HW title fight over there.Also I expect Sotoropolis to be on it aswell.

scudzilla

Tones69 wrote: »

Nothing announced yet, i reckon he'l be co-main for this one, anyway do people expect the top top fighters and title holders to fight on every card and in europe etc?

Not every card but maybe 1/2 title fights a year would be good, i've been lucky enough to attend both title fights that have been in UK (75 & 80), the last being UFC80 in Newcastle, back in January 2008, coming up to 3yrs ago.

I recall Dana saying quite a few times at various Q&A's that Euro cards will have cards that match U.S events and will also have title fights, he's not delivered on either promise.

I also think that had Bisping beat Wandy then he would have been given a shot against Silva in the U.K, him losing that fight threw a spanner in the works for sure

Tones69

TBH i really dont see the point of Bisping Vs Rivera, bisping should really only be one or 2 wins away from a title shot at this stage whereas id say theres plenty of lads ahead of rivera in the division. Bisping should get the likes of marquardt at this stage to really test himself, hes beaten leben, dan miller and akiyama recently, really should be fighting maia/marquardt/okami etc, all IMO of course

MrStuffins

Tones69 wrote: »

TBH i really dont see the point of Bisping Vs Rivera, bisping should really only be one or 2 wins away from a title shot at this stage whereas id say theres plenty of lads ahead of rivera in the division. Bisping should get the likes of marquardt at this stage to really test himself, hes beaten leben, dan miller and akiyama recently, really should be fighting maia/marquardt/okami etc, all IMO of course

While i agree with some of your post? (Not the part about Bisping being close to a title fight), i think this is a great match up stylistically AND it's the step-up in competition needed for Rivera IMO. I think if Rivera beats Bisping than HE'S closer to a Title Shot........... as weird as it seems to thinkt hat Jorge would ever be close to a shot at the belt.

4 wins in 5, 3 on the trot including a demolishion of Nate Quarry....... i'd love to see Jorge get a crack at it

yizorselves

Last time they were here some clowns tried to start shoight with Pat Barry at Abrakebabra in Temple Bar. Apparently him and Phil Baroni were smiling at the guys outside eating because they were twisted, and the hardy Irish lads didnt take kindly to being mocked

shampon

yizorselves wrote: »

Last time they were here some clowns tried to start shoight with Pat Barry at Abrakebabra in Temple Bar. Apparently him and Phil Baroni were smiling at the guys outside eating because they were twisted, and the hardy Irish lads didnt take kindly to being mocked

Fairly sure if it had came down to it...

mooeire

unknown13 wrote: »

The card according to Junkie is:

Bisping -V- Rivera
Condit -V- Lytle

I can't really see the UFC bringing the HW title fight over there.Also I expect Sotoropolis to be on it aswell.

Penn v Fitch!!!!!!!!!! Be very suprised if Bisping headlines above that fight....

Mellor

Penn fitch is the main evetn, bisping is the co-main event
I would of thought that was obvious

MrStuffins

Mellor wrote: »

Penn fitch is the main evetn, bisping is the co-main event
I would of thought that was obvious

To everyone but Bisping i bet!

Although, chances are he hasn't heard of Jorge Rivera, so maybe not!

DrPhilG

Sotiropolous vs Siver likely for the Oz card too.

It's actually a pretty hot lineup for an overseas event.

Bisping vs Rivera should be below Sot vs Siver too.

Mellor

Sots and Siver, isn't just likely, it's confirmed, its the only fight that is confirmed at the minute, the rest are just rumours

MrStuffins

Mellor wrote: »

Sots and Siver, isn't just likely, it's confirmed, its the only fight that is confirmed at the minute, the rest are just rumours

Yeah, did Dana actually confirm Fitch v Penn at the presser? I watched the presser and didnt hear it, so if he did say it i just wasnt paying attention!

Mellor

He didn't confirm BJ's next fight, unless i missed it too, he did say BJ would stay at 170 though, which is good imo

MrStuffins

Mellor wrote: »

He didn't confirm BJ's next fight, unless i missed it too, he did say BJ would stay at 170 though, which is good imo

yeah, coz i saw all the Penn v fitch talk but had no idea where it came from, and when i Googled it the article said Dana confirmed it at the presser.... but he obviously didn't in this case!

Evil_Clown

MrStuffins wrote: »

yeah, coz i saw all the Penn v fitch talk but had no idea where it came from, and when i Googled it the article said Dana confirmed it at the presser.... but he obviously didn't in this case!

There is an Ariel Helwani interview with Dana on MMA fighting where he confirms the Penn v Fitch fight

Richy06

Fitch Vs Penn is confirmed as is Siver Vs Sots and Bisping Vs Rivera.

Mellor

Where was bisping confirmed?
(I don't consider the his own comments as confirmation)

He likely is, i'm just surprised at it being him again. He was really dislike over in Oz, fighting Wandy didn't help

MrStuffins

Mellor wrote: »

Where was bisping confirmed?
(I don't consider the his own comments as confirmation)

He likely is, i'm just surprised at it being him again. He was really dislike over in Oz, fighting Wandy didn't help

Well technically the event hasn't be "confirmed" either. But when these stories come out, especially in MMA, there's a 99% hit rate that they're true.

Normally if someone speculates too hard it's shut doen right away by the bosses!

Mellor

MrStuffins wrote: »

Well technically the event hasn't be "confirmed" either. But when these stories come out, especially in MMA, there's a 99% hit rate that they're true.

Normally if someone speculates too hard it's shut doen right away by the bosses!

Unlike the rumours on sherdog, mmajunkie etc, dana announced it at the presser, so that's confirmed for me

Tones69

Its confirmed now anywho, AND its co main event AND its completely off topic but no one seems to care

http://www.bjpenn.com/profiles/blogs/video-michael-bisping-confirms

wedgelington

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFC_on_Versus_3

this was just put up on wikipedia, looks very promising to be held in ireland

scudzilla

wedgelington wrote: »

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFC_on_Versus_3

this was just put up on wikipedia, looks very promising to be held in ireland

How do you come to that conclusion? The whole 'UFC on versus' series is broadcast live on a U.S tv channel, i think it's On Versus, so the liklehood that they'd take it to somewhere with a 6/9hr time difference is minimal.

And as for Wiki, i could go on there now and edit that page saying it's gonna be held in the big top outside Swords Pavillions

Oh_Noes

wedgelington wrote: »

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFC_on_Versus_3

this was just put up on wikipedia, looks very promising to be held in ireland

Can't see anything there that indicates this would be held in Ireland.

Add to that, this is an event for the Canadian Versus network, which I doubt would be a happy about one of their only four live yearly shows being held in a time zone eight hours ahead.

Edit: Oops Scud got there first