UFC looking to bring as many as four shows to Britain each year, reveals owner Lorenzo Fertitta

Fertitta revealed that the UFC are looking to increase the number of European shows to cross the Atlantic on a 'consistant basis'

UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta (Getty Images)

Hot on the heels of a successful event in London last month, UFC boss Lorenzo Fertitta confirmed that the organisation were looking to further expand their presence across Europe and bring as many as four shows a year to the United Kingdom.

Speaking to the Financial Times after the UFC London event last month that took place at the 02 Arena, Fertitta said: "We used to do events here and then we would be away for a year or two and not come back. So now we are committing to a number of events on a consistent basis.”

When asked how many additional shows that could mean for the UK, Mr Fertitta replied: "We’ll probably end up doing somewhere between three or four a year, going between the various cities. We’ve played everywhere from Manchester to Newcastle to Birmingham and we’ll get back to those markets at some point. Also Scotland and Ireland."

Hosting as many as four shows a year in the UK would be a massive change for British fans who have only seen the organisation visit these shores three times in the past two years - twice in London in 2014 and 2016, and then once in Glasgow in 2015.

Lorenzo Fertitta (centre) alongside UFC president Dana White (Getty Images)

While growth in the UK looks a priority, further expansion across Europe is also on the UFC's agenda and in the next two months, they will be taking unprecedented steps when they take the promotion to Zagreb in April and Rotterdam in May for the very first time.

On 7 April, the capital of Croatia will for the first time play host to the UFC when they host a main event of Ben Rothwell taking on Junior Dos Santos in a heavyweight clash. In the following month, another heavyweight clash, between Alistair Overeem and Andre Arlovski will then headline the card at UFC Rotterdam on Sunday, 8 May.

The news that they are looking to further expand their presence in Europe comes ahead of the UK and Irish TV rights going back on the market at the end of July. BT Sports currently hold the broadcast rights but there are strong rumours that Sky could look to enter the bidding.

Speaking last month, James Elliott, the UFC’s Vice President and General Manager of Europe, Middle East and Africa told the42.ie that the next TV rights deal was going to be significant in the further development of the entire UFC business.

“The goals of the whole team here are to grow this business as large as we can and as quickly as we can, so we’ve got a number of things as a team which we’re looking to tick off,” he said.

"Among those is a new TV deal in the UK and Ireland — that’s a big deal, particularly for this market, obviously, but it’s important for the business as a whole."

With current champions like Conor McGregor and Joanna Jedrzejczyk, and ambitions to bring the UFC show to Europe more frequently, it's never been better to be a UFC fan this side of the world.