"We're heading to five or six in Europe" - John Gooden reveals UFC plans for future events
UFC play-by-play commentator John Gooden returned to action in front of a full arena at UFC London, adding his voice to a spectacular night of UK MMA. The event was such a success, Dana White declared the promotion would be moving their schedule around to return to England in 2022, along with a stop in France as well.
Gooden was a guest on The MMA Hour and he discussed the UFC's plans for the UK, which fall into an overall strategy for Europe.
"We were heading for five or six in Europe ... they have a responsibility to the whole region."
The big issue according to Gooden is finding arenas outside of London large enough to hold a show as big as the UFC.
"The problem is: you're saying we have all these arenas, but do we? The Echo Arena in Liverpool, they use that for Cage Warriors, and now you're saying use it for UFC. Yeah they could use it for UFC and pack it, but it's not big enough. And I would imagine the amount of money generated would pale in significance to the money they did in London at the O2."
Incredible. London, you made history 🤩 twitter.com/UFCEurope/stat…
John Gooden's advice for UK fans: be prepared to hop on a plane and catch the UFC when it's near.
"We have to look at the rest of Europe as well where there are significant arenas to make this work. And certainly people will travel far and wide after the time that we've had to attend these events."
Watch John Gooden's full interview on The MMA Hour below.
Dana White almost moved UFC London to Abu Dhabi two weeks before the event
It's hard to imagine UFC London without the roar of the O2 Arena crowd, but that was almost the reality as Dana White revelealed he was close to moving the event to Abu Dhabi.
“We had some problems. I was considering pulling out of here two weeks ago. Was going to refund everyone’s tickets and go to Abu Dhabi. So ... it was just, you know, certain things. The world is a nutty place right now. It’s not as easy to do business and I said I’m just not going to play games. I’m going to go to places where I’m able to go and run my business and do what I want to do."
White didn't specify exactly what had the promotion considering a move, but he has previously declared the UFC wouldn't hold events in regions with COVID-19 restrictions. There was also the possibility that the Russian invasion of Ukraine was going to result in several UFC fighters being unable to enter the UK.
Dana White reacts after a historic night at #UFCLondon 😄 https://t.co/hrGRGT9Jrn
Watch Dana White's UFC London post-fight press conference video below.