Dana White confirms Manchester as location of UFC’s upcoming UK event

The UFC president provided the update at Thursday’s press conference for UFC 300

Dana White has confirmed that the UFC’s upcoming UK event will take place in Manchester, amid rumours that the city’s new arena will stage the card.

In March, the UFC president promised that the promotion would bring a pay-per-view event to England this year, adding that an announcement was imminent.

No such announcement ensued, but at Thursday’s press conference of UFC 300 this weekend, White confirmed that Manchester specifically will host the upcoming event in England.

“When we get it done, we’ll let you know, but we’re definitely going to Manchester,” White said, declining to comment on a date for the fight card.

In March, White told TNT Sports: “I have an English heavyweight champion and lots of other European stars, but two champs now out of England.

“We’re going to England, we’re coming! I’ve got great fights lined up for the UK fans, and I’m excited to get back there. Literally in days [we’ll make an announcement], we’re right there working on this stuff. We’ve got some badass plans for England: numbered card, pay-per-view, a great one.”

White was referring to interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall, who fights out of Wigan, and welterweight champion Leon Edwards, who was born in Jamaica and fights out of Birmingham.

Aspinall has expressed a desire to defend his interim title while the UFC presses ahead with plans for Jon Jones to defend the regular belt against Stipe Miocic.

Jones won the vacant heavyweight title in March 2023 and was due to defend it against divisional great Miocic in November. However, Jones suffered an injury that saw the bout fall apart on short notice. Aspinall went on to win the interim gold by knocking out Pavlovich, seemingly setting up a future bout with Jones.

However, the American is still out injured, and the UFC has insisted that Jones vs Miocic is its priority.

Edwards last fought in December, retaining the welterweight title by outpointing Colby Covington. Edwards has since been linked with a fight against Belal Muhammad.