LONDON – UFC executive Dave Shaw spoke to the media Saturday following the completion of UFC Fight Night 224.
In UFC president Dana White’s absence, Shaw, the promotion’s senior vice president tasked with international content, addressed various topics at The O2 in London, including the second London event in 2023, future Europe plans, the potential for an Africa debut, big-name free agents and more.
You can watch Shaw’s full post-event news conference above, and check out a transcription of some of the topics he covered below.
UFC Fight Night 224 notes
Bonuses tonight go to Paul Craig (and) Tommy Aspinall (for Performance of the Night), and Danny Roberts vs. Johnny Parsons (for Fight of the Night). The gate tonight was 15,078 for $2.5 million USD. We have two transports: Daniel Marcos and Yanal Ashmouz.
On the return to London
The (fight week) trip was great. It feels like home. We’ve been here four times in the last 18 months. For us, coming off of (the UFC 286 London) pay-per-view in March, where it was a very intense week – big week, lots going on, big card, Dana (White) and the whole crew, everyone here – it felt a little bit more manageable. But it felt like home. We’ve been in The O2 so many times now. I think for our crews, for the teams, it was fairly straightforward. Really nice to be in the city. The city also felt a little quieter.
On UFC London's international flair
I think we had 12 fighters from U.K. and Ireland. We had 12 different nationalities represented. Most of the cards that we do in London are a real celebration of European MMA with your requisite Brazilians and Americans fighting, as well.
On the plans for U.K., Europe in 2024
I think we’re going to continue with two a year in the U.K. at a minimum. I think what we’re probably going to do in 2024 is move outside of London for one of the fights. I don’t think we’re going to have two fights per year in London. But you never know what Dana wants to do, depending on who’s holding the belt and where people are ranked. But I wouldn’t be surprised if we – it’s been a while since we’ve been in Glasgow, it’s been a while since we’ve been in Manchester, we want to get back to Dublin. There’s a lot of places we want to go. We expect that to take on a slightly different complexion next year.
On the potential to do U.K. stadiums
I think (we’ll be) generally sticking to arenas unless there’s special circumstances. Stadiums are tough. The six that we’ve had, or whatever the number is, they’re tough. They’re big. There’s not the best viewing experience. But it’s fitting for when the stars align, you’ve got the right fights, the right moment in our calendar, and we can de-risk in terms of weather, we can de-risk in terms of production costs, there’s the availability of some sort of local support, government support – it might make it a bit more manageable. But for us, the sweet spot is an arena with 15,000 people.
On Tom Aspinall's heavyweight title roadmap
He’s got it all mapped out. If he’s going to Paris, he’s going to sit there and watch the (Ciryl) Gane (vs. Sergei Pavlovich) fight and take on that winner, perhaps we’ll see (Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall) happen in 2024 (in a stadium).
On a potential return to Dublin
(The) short answer (on a Dublin return) is yes. It was pointed out earlier on by one of the key guys on our digital media team that next July will mark 10 years since the Conor (McGregor vs. Diego Brandao) fight. (Dublin is at the) top of the list, for sure. We want to get back at some point. I’m just not sure when. … Certainly you can see the last couple of years, several more athletes (from Ireland) coming into the mix, and I think that lends itself well to returning back to Ireland at some point soon.
On Bellator free agent Michael Page cageside in London
Perhaps (the UFC is interested in signing Michael Page). I’ve got no idea. I assume that we would, given the fact that he’s here. Maybe he’s a free agent, but definitely a question for Dana (White). We were talking about it the other day, a long list of individuals who’ve come over (to the UFC), and done really well in other promotions that have come over. Look at (Justin) Gaethje and (Michael) Chandler and a few other guys. It would be pretty exciting to add him to the mix, for sure.
On the potential for UFC Africa
I feel like we’re making progress (on a UFC debut in Africa). We don’t have anything definitive to report. We’ve been having a number of conversations around what it’s going to take, what country to go to. If you’ve been listening to some of Dana’s interviews and Lawrence (Epstein’s) interviews over the past four or five months, it’s starting to gain a bit of momentum. Nothing to report now, but I’d be confident in saying maybe mid to late next year, maybe 2025. But it’s top of the list right now in terms of new territories, new countries, and continents we’ve never been to.
On where UFC's Africa debut might be
We do (have Africa contenders). First of all, you’ve got to look at things like where does the infrastructure exist? Where is the Super Bowl-(sized) venue? We’re not going to go to a big rugby pitch that’s outdoors. We’re not going to go to a big soccer stadium. It’s going to be an indoor venue: South Africa, Rwanda, Senegal, maybe Cameroon. I think there’s a number of projects that we believe are starting to gain a bit of traction to build more, let’s say Westernized arenas that are managed well and are suitable for our sport, like a traditional hockey or basketball arena. That’s the first question that we need to answer. The second, and this all comes down to Dana, is where do we want to go based on what athletes we want to have on the card? Who knows what the next move is with (South African potential middleweight title challenger) Dricus (Du Plessis). Maybe South Africa does make sense. But (Israel Adesanya’s) been campaigning (for Africa). (Kamaru) Usman’s been campaigning. Nothing to report yet, but something that we’re confident will happen in the next couple of years.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 224.
