UFC Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, Marc Ratner, recently revealed that the promotion is heading back to England on October 18 with UFC 89, according to Fighters Only Magazine.
It will be the fifth major event to be staged there in 18 months; however, the show will likely take place for the first time ever in Birmingham at the National Indoor Arena (NIA). The venue can hold about 13,000 screaming mixed martial arts fans.
Prior to his fight at UFC 85: “Bedlam” earlier this month, Michael Bisping hinted that he would likely participate on the card. And while there is no official confirmation it would make sense that he take on Chris Leben — the two were supposed to meet at the O2 Arena in a middleweight showdown before the bout was scrapped.
The report indicates that highly touted British welterweight prospect, Dan Hardy, is also expected to make his Octagon debut at UFC 89 against a yet to be named opponent.
England in particular and Europe in general is clearly a top priority for the promotion even though officials often admit that the events come at a financial loss. However, if the UFC can win over more fans — and it appears to be doing that — another report today indicates that a massive show in an outdoor soccer stadium is possible in the near future.
Here’s a snip from United Kingdom UFC President Martin Zelaznik via UK.EuroSport.com:
“We are going to continue to do four big events in the UK per year.We will be confirming our next UK event in a couple of weeks. We hold records in the biggest indoor venues in the UK already, and the next step is running big outdoor shows. The UFC in a UK football stadium would be an incredible fan experience…. If you think back to where we were in the UK two years ago, with a live UK show and live coverage of US cards nothing but a dream for our fans, to where we are now, just think about how great things are going to be two years down the road from here.”
Indeed, the prospect of a major UFC show from historic Wembley Stadium, for example, would be downright insane.
Stay tuned for more details, updates and fight announcements regarding UFC 89.
86 Comments »
I’m all about outdoor UFC. Seriously, it’s like outdoor hockey to us hockey fans. I’m talking sh*t my pants exciting. That would be something I’d almost consider flying over to watch. Actually, I am considering it.
Wembley would be quality, we would easily fill the 80K capacity.
yeah alright!! Wembley! I think the only fights that will fill that is hatton or calzagie, I think you gotta think smaller
I think you make a ver valid point. I believe the UFC would struggle to sell out Wembley due to the samller following of the sport over hear. We’re still a few years behind the states imo.
I saw Ricky Hatton fight outdoors in Manchester and it was top quality, but the UFC just doesn’t have a fan base like he does over hear unfortunetly. And Wembley is much bigger than the City of Manchester Stadium.
Obviously we’re talking Wembley in 2-3 years not anytime soon. The way MMA is growing in the UK I think it would easily sell out in 2-3 years.
Friggin Bon Jovi filled Wembley so MMA shouldn’t have a problem
Are you guys nuts? UFC in Wembley would mean how many thousands of fans would have a horrible view of the action? The UFC is getting too greedy. Don’t go any bigger than the O2 because the view just goes to shit. This isn’t football with a huge field, it’s a tiny cage with 2 people.
Have you ever seen UFC in Mandalay Bay. It holds about 11,000 and there isn’t a bad seat in the house.
You are so right. I’ve been to a few events at the bigger arenas (20,000 ish) and if your sat in the cheap seats you find yourself watching the big screens a lot of the time esp when they are on the ground or in a clinch.
If they do a big outdoor show there will be thousands of terrible seats.
The best out door event was M-1 Global! Thay had a ring floating on the river in St. Petersburg, then on the shore they had super sized Jumbotrons…It looked amazing!
The UFC has a better chance of filling up a stadium in the USA than it does in the UK. Why doesnt the UFC try to tap into the Japanese Market? They have so many Jpanese fan favorites signed to the UFC. Pride, in japan used to fill out STADIUMS, something that the UFC can only DReam of.
If treh UFC put together a good fight card in Japan, with household names, they could easily sell out a stadium or the Saitame Super Arena at the very least. THink about it. Have a fight card in Japan featuring some of these fighters:
Nogueira
Rampage
Wanderlei
Akahiro GOno
Ryo chonan
Sokoudjou
Anderson Silva
Shogun
Dan Henderson
Nakamura
and they could easily sell out a stadium in Japan!
also, Dana White loves Sakuraba. If the UFC could have a card in Japan, I am sure Dana could sign Sakuraba to a 1 fight contract!
The Event could be labled: “The Return of PRIDE” It would be sooooooooo successfull in Japan it wouldnt even be funny.
I like your thinking. You could even make it a little more appealing to the fans of Japan.
Silva vs. Yushin (title fight)
Rampage vs. Wanderlei (title fight)
Shogun vs. Hendo
Absolutely!
Bisping vs Ace for sure
Sorry - meant that fight for the UFC 89 card
Sorry, ACE has a date with Henderson…that fight MUST be booked immediately!
WTF??? What does Canada have to do to get a second PPV? I think that we went crazy enough the first time. UFC COME BACK TO CANADA!!!
Lol Canada
Ah Bic, I caught up with you my friend. I know it’s old news but we had a little arrangement prior to the Alves - Hughes fight. You gotta give props where props is due dude.
Can you admit it now that your boy Hughes is done?
Agreed. We need to make it legal in Ontario so it can come to the ACC.
That would be nice because it would be a much shorter drive, but I’ll be honest I don’t think we can be as loud as Montreal!!!
Damn i wish it was in Florida for my birthday
outdoor arena! outdoor arena! and so on…
MMAMANIA, Do you know if a Miami, FL event is still in the works for 08 or early 09?
UMMM what the fck ! I like my PPV at 7:00 PM, not 1:00 PM.
Can we please stay in the states, or Canada was amazzing as well.
Yeah, why not keep it ET instead?! I hate to wake up so early in the mornin’ here in C-Town, Philippines if we were to folllow the UK Timezone…Or better yet, why not hold the UFC here in like QC or Pasig City, that would be nice!!
More UK events. Sweet.
I think it is ok for you if it is 1.00pm for you guys on the odd occasion as its is more often 4.00am for us guys in the UK.
YEah watever, the UK cards are the worst ones anyway.
I’m guessing, based on your response, your still at School and you don’t have access to a TV in the playground to catch it at 1.00pm
you’re
Liddell-GSP ur a jerkoff
ufc 80 was one of the best cards ive seen
Nothing like an afternoon UFC with slow cook bbq and cold beer
us folk in uk tune into events ur side of the pond at 3am ouch
Almeida vs. Bisping
Feed Bisping to Leben PLEASE !!!
lol @ feed.
I think you should add Bisping to your name, that way you name will not deteriorate
Yeah, the same way he was fed to Day!!
Lol Day had like a month to trade and is no Leben, get over it UK nut hugger Leben will eat Bisbing for breakfast
Bisping had a month to train aswell, not sure how his trading went. Both guys had just fought so whats the issue? All you Bisping haters were certain that Day would beat Bisping down and he won. Same with Leben, if he can stay out of jail this time. Or he may go back in to “teach” some more convicts submission moves. Classy guy!! (Bisping btw not BisBing)
yes please feed leben to bisping. im a passionate englishman and i have american family in new jersey. i love your culture and way of life. america is the best country in the world, but bisping is gonna bitch your boys. i was ringside for ufc 75 and i thought matt hamill won, and he was a true gent in defeat, if you watched the event you would see the english loved him and took him into there hearts. but he was the much more polished fighter against boring rashed. you seem to have a grudge against him, but he trully is a top 5 185 fighter and comparing him to leben is a disgrace!!!!
Realistically I reckon the UFC might be looking at the Millenium stadium in Cardiff (It’s in Wales) because of the fully retractable roof. Wembley’s roof is not fully retractable. It can’t cover the pitch. They should have designed it to. It’s the most expensive stadium ever built.
Cardiff makes perfect sense.
Also Canada are due another show…Brazil and Mexico should be on the agenda too but the suits know they can rip the Europeans off more and charge extortionate prices for the tickets. It’s disgusting thinking how much money I’ve spent on the 3 events I’ve attended.
Why not have UFC 100 in England too? Lame.
Suprised you can type, sounds like your busy with those sour grapes… get over it.
hey mania there are some game play videos for the new ufc game up at ign.com .. they are classic. Its forrest vs rampage. Its offscreen footage at a press confrence. both rampage and forrest are there Rampage is doing the funnest comentary ever. ITS A MUST SEE!!
MUST SEE!! - http://media.ps3.ign.com/media/876/876981/vids_1.html
I wanna see Bisping vs Leben. I like both fighters, it’d be to see how Bisping does against someone like Leben. Also look forward to seeing Dan Hardy’s debut. He could make for some exciting fights no doubt.
Please please UFC[calling Mr. Dana White!], please! Hold one of your events here in the Pacific Rim, particularly, here in the Philippines!!I guarantee you, a lot of fans would come to watch! You’ll still earn your big bucks, and at the same time, a lot of people will pay good money just to watch Brandon Vera fight!
I admit that I like the Brazilian fighters more[calling the Silvas!]because IMO they’re better than Brandon right now. And you guys better watch out for mah man Thiago Silva! He’s bound to create ripples in the LHW division!
Yeah ok mate, why didn’t you just leave your phone number so Dana can give you a call, sure he’s really interested in your thoughts.
wake me up after this sh!t ends!!!
It would be like old days of pride in the giant arenas but with awesome drunk europeans lol. speaking of which I would love to see a large show in Japan.
There is loads more places in britian to go cardiff after birmingham id say! whats wrong with a few shows here a year? and we europeans as you say do not think we are getting ripped off at all! maybe when chuck pulled out but we always sell them out and are happy too. some people are just so bitter because we have the best fans.
Well I was a little dissappointed that we didn’t get to see Chucky fight. I was however more than happy when they announced Hughes Alves as the new main event plus London is so much fun.
They could do Cardiff no problem.
Leben is a coward!
A foolish statement if there ever was one.
whooooooooooo stoked im from birmingham born and bred and will be octagon side for this one.
in october it will be freezing
Cardiff is a pig to get to - Birmingham is much more central, good choice. I think the UFC could put a couple of tramps as headliners and they’d still fill the arena in the UK.
I have visions now of hundreds of ufc hooligans in a mass brawl outside a football (soccer) stadium but instead of throwing bricks and brawling they would be pulling armbars and kimura’s lol
Dan Hardy is out of my back yard - Nottingham, just like Semtex. Both solid guys. The UFC is lucky to sign Hardy, as for Semtex, the UFC has no chance in the near future - he’s switched on to Dana Whites bullshit - he wants the big big money or he just simply wont fight - why should a guy of his talent settle for any less than a 100 large? The UFC will only be the biggest promotion if it gives the largest pay slip. Cant wait for this on, jus down the road!
When is Birmingham Alabama gonna host a UFC event lol
When are they going to host an event in Birmingham Alabama lol
Before UFC was famous world wide, it was in Birmingham, AL a few different times. I was at the one in ‘99…
UFC 10 - 1996 - Birmingham, AL
UFC 12 - 1997 - Dothan, AL
UFC 14 - 1997 - Birmingham, AL
UFC 17 - 1998 - Mobile, AL
UFC 20 - 1999 - Birmingham, AL
I think it’s brilliant that the UFC are showing such commitment to staging events live in the UK.
If UFC 89 is in the UK, it’ll be the 6th event staged here in 14 months, which is quite impressive considering the time and money needed to make these events happen.
I went to UFC 85 at the o2 earlier this month. It was my first live UFC event and I loved it. Hopefully I’ll be able to make this one coming up too.
It’ll be interesting to see who they have lined up to fight.
Of the title holders, I’d say BJ Penn is most likely to fight, moving up to welterweight to prepare for a rematch with St. Pierre. All the other title holders will have fought too recently, I would have thought.
I think it’d be amazing to have a few defining fights at light-heavyweight and middleweight to sort out the contenders from the pretenders.
I’d like to see Wanderlei Silva-Lyoto Machida and Thiago Silva-Goran Reljic in the LHW division. Bisping-Quarry and Franklin-Henderson in the MW division.
But I’m sure whatever happens, Joe Silva will piece together an interesting card. I think it could be a very good opportunity to give some exposure to lesser known talents though and to continue cementing the interest in UFC over here in the UK.
Brazil and Japan IMO are the best markets outside of the US, but we have yet to even hint at going there. This confuses me. Our roster is loaded with Brazilians. Every division!! The UFC needs to put as presense and Europe yes I agree, but they are over doing it when there are far more lucrative options out there.
This is amazing for me (I only live about 5 miles away from the NEC) and being as Birmingham is the 2nd biggest city in the UK after London this is very much deserved.
The NIA is too small and believe me this will sell at least 20,000 tickets as Birmingham is right in the middle of the country and is very easy to get to for everyone. It can only be the NEC.
The fights I’d like to see are:
Henderson vs Franklin (Main event)
Wanderlei vs Thiago (Possible co-main event)
Alves vs Sanchez (Possible co-main event)
Bisping vs Leben/Kampmann (Possible co-main event)
Quarry vs McFedries
Maia vs Palhares
So come on dana / joe silva I know you read all my posts…so do as your told and book em up! lol
im coming up from london for the event, whats birmingham like for a beer up? ive followed bisping since b4 tuf days!!!!
I lov it when UFC comes to England, means I get to go again
But travel expenses and all that are a killer, I’ve to fly to UK and tickets are too cheap either lyke
I dunno if havin an outdoor event in The England is the brightest idea, weather is too unpredictable, I mean we’re meant to be in our summer holidays now and its pissing outside
Yeah travel expenses are $h!t. Don’t know if I’ll go to 89. They’re never coming back to Ireland are they.
IM FROM BIRMINGHAM AND VERY HAPPY WITH THIS NEW
That and you have Dorian Yates in your town. The former king of bodybuilding! What a champ that dude was.
Has anyone trained at Temple? I’ve heard he chills there (since he’s the owner) and anyone can go in a score a pic and shoot it with him a bit. Is that true?
That is true. I’ve met him a couple of times. He is f*cking huge in person as well. He is from Sutton Coldfield or Solihull or something like that.
Ive seen him at the temple but I train at the Iron Works and he has been there as well. Top bloke.
That is awesome dude. I’ve always been a fan of Yates..ever since he blew Wheeler, El Sonbaty, Ray and Levrone out of the water, year after year.
That dude always did things his way.
actually anderson silva wonts 2 fight every 3 months and is actually ment 2 be defending his title 2 okami at ufc 89 in birmingham. go on google and type in ufc 89 2008 and it will be everywere, aswell asa rumerd wanderlei silva vs tiago silva, michael bisping vs leban and dan hardy
birmingham is the worst place in the world, its like a backwards town, if you’ve ever been you’ll know what i mean something strange about it. the amount of car accidents you’ll see aswell is unbelievable. you’ll be lucky to come out alive.
Aaaahh, just jealous are we cos the UFC not coming to your home town??
ufc has already come to my home town, i saw a ppv live it wasn’t that great, probably wouldn’t attend a live event again unless i had front row seats. the english crowd are morons anyway.
What are you going on about… saw a live PPV and it wasn’t that great, er your on the wrong site then.
I’ve been to 4 and they are f**king amazing, the atmosphere, the roar of the crowd, the beer and the ring girls!!
Oh and thats a bit of a sweeping statement saying all the english crowd are morons. For a start when i have been to UK events a large portion of the crowd are american/canadian, and the crowd all get on great.
Boo hoo, don’t go to the next one then.
it wouldn’t be hard to sell out a show in japan or mexico sh!t they all have like 100 babies each
I went to the Hatton Fight at The Manchester City Stadium. Its way too big for this kind of sport. I spent all my time looking behind me at one of the screens as I could hardly see the ring and the screens above the ring were too small. The 02 at the dome is the best venue I have been to for the UFC, any bigger than that and for the people who have bought cheap seats they might as well have stayed at home and watched it on the TV.
it’ll be interesting to see where the ufc will go for ufc100 and who will be on the card
I was at 85 n wouldnt miss the nxt 1 for the world. Bein a birmingham lad im well excited about this one!!!!!!!!!
Where you from Hale? Im a Wolverhampton lad so definatley going to this one.
Im fro wolvo aswell m8. Big wolves fan!!! Went to see amir kharn at the nia last wkend about half the size of the 02, So seats should be good wherever ya sit.
Same here, not having a season ticket again this year. Cant stand the dissapointment!!
“historic Wembley Stadium” ….I’m afraid that got bulldozed completely and they built a completely new one!….oooh, Cage Rage is held in the much smaller Wembley Arena, you can see one from the other, how’s that for a big fingers up to Cage Rage! haha.
So, nobody has any news about a possible Miami event? Thats great, fantastic.
LMAO
I get no response either most of the time lol
Sorry but I have no news regarding a Miami show