Dana White says UFC will be in China by year's end, Venetian Macao likely to host
LAS VEGAS – The UFC's international expansion has a new destination.
UFC president Dana White today said Macau, a special administrative region of China known for tourism and gambling, is expected to host a UFC event soon. Just how soon?
"Very soon," he told MMAjunkie.com (
www.mmajunkie.com) following a UFC 146 kickoff press conference in Las Vegas. "It will happen this year.
"We're this close. We are going to do a fight in China."
China has never hosted a UFC event, though it's long been on the UFC's radar. Macau has a population of approximately 550,000, though China has more than 1.3 billion overall.
White said the event would be held in conjunction with The Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel, a 40-story property that opened in 2007 with a $2.4 billion price tag. The property, which is modeled after The Venetian in Las Vegas, features the planet's largest casino and is one of the region's most popular tourism spots.
The resort also is home to CotaiArena (previously Venetian Arena), a 15,000-seat indoor arena that's hosted past boxing events. A venue of that size would be more than adequate for a large pay-per-view UFC show.
Currently, no specific fights are planned for the show.
