Marshall Zelaznik, president of the UFC's UK division, sees a bright future for the promotion in Ireland.
At the post-fight press conference for UFC 93, he outlined the possibility of a return to the country on one of its holiest of days.
"Lorenzo and I were speaking, and one thing we'd love to figure out is how to get here every St. Patrick’s Day," he said. "We’d like to figure out, no matter what day of the week it is, to try and come over with a fight. That's something we’re looking to do right away."
He also noted, however, that the promotion's frantic international schedule was a barrier to a quick return.
"It's hard, we’re trying to do so many things with this sport," he continued. "It's not just promoting the UFC; I always say we’re promoting a sport. In order to get as many people to experience it, you’ve gotta take the event out, and I see so many reporters (asking) when are you gonna come back to Newcastle, when are you coming back to Birmingham, and we're trying to get everywhere. Eventually, we'll be everywhere all the time."
Still, the fervor of Saturday's crowd was hard to ignore. Before he made a quick exit from the press conference, UFC President Dana White said the passion of Irish fans put them in the top-three of best crowds the promotion has played to.
With that, Zelaznik said a presence wasn't hard to justify.
"I think that we'll have a regular home here, would be my guess," he said.
UFC president Dana White presents the latest edition of his UFC 93 video blog. In this episode, Dana plays the new UFC video game against Michael Bisping, and much, much more.
In the Jan. 16 edition of Dana White's UFC 93 video blog, Dana takes viewers behind the scenes to the UFC 93 weigh-ins and the fighter meeting in Dublin, Ireland.
Tune in Friday morning if you're in the Jackson, Mississippi area to hear MMAWeekly Radio host Damon Martin as he joins Chuck & Doug for "Mississippi Sports This Morning" at approximately 10:05am EST to help them breakdown UFC 93.
The guys at The Score have welcomed MMAWeekly to their show before every major UFC event, and on Friday they will talk Franklin vs. Henderson and all the other big fights taking place this weekend.
Tune in at 10:05 EST/9:05 CST to hear MMAWeekly's Damon Martin on The Score 620 in Jackson, Mississippi.
After MMAWeekly Radio goes off the air tonight, both Damon Martin and Jeff Cain will join the hosts of Cage Radio on 1280 AM in Salt Lake City, Utah to breakdown UFC 93.
Tune in tonight at 10:15pm EST/8:15pm MT in Utah to hear MMAWeekly Radio join Cage Radio!
The latest edition of Dana White's UFC 93 blog as he travels around Ireland, talks to boxers about the sport of MMA, and replays the events of the race that kicked off the first blog in this series, and some shifty business going on with the bet payoff.
In the third episode of his UFC 93 video blog, Dana goes for a workout and tries to figure out how much weight he's got on the barbell - in kilos, hangs out with Marcus Davis, takes a behind the scenes look at the arena, meets up with Chris Lytle, Rich Franklin, and more.
Dana White's UFC 93 video blog continues with more from The Ultimate Fighter 9 at the Wolfslair, plus talks with Rich Franklin and Dan Henderson prior to their UFC 93 fight this weekend, TUF 9 coach Michael Bisping, and more.
As Mark Coleman prepares for his 2nd fight against Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, he will be prepping for the first time ever to compete at 205lbs since debuting as a fighter in 1996.
The former Ohio State wrestler talked to MMAWeekly Radio recently about the decision to drop to the light heavyweight class for his UFC return bout.
"Look at the fighters nowadays," Coleman said. "I said back in '96 that size matters, but today's fighters are so much bigger, and so much heavier and so much stronger. It's common sense."
"It made a lot of sense to make the move down. I'm 6'1 at the most and these guys are coming in at 6'4", 270, it's just too big. Logic told me I need to cut down to 205 and see what we can do there."
Coleman said that to make the weight cut he's been paying strict attention to his diet and nutrition which actually caused him to get a little too lean while in camp for the fight, but says all is well now as he prepares to leave for England and a short training session with the Wolfslair team.
The rest of Coleman's camp consisted of time with his Hammer House squad in Columbus, OH as well as work with the Ohio State wrestling team.
Mark Coleman takes on Mauricio "Shogun" Rua on Jan 17 in Ireland.
UFC president Dana White presents the first installment of his UFC 93 blog. The newest episode follows Dana through England as he prepares for the filming of the new season of the "Ultimate Fighter" and much, much more.
ESPN's MMA Live team talks about the top stories of 2008 along with handing out a series of awards. The team also starts the analysis of UFC 93 in Ireland
Like most combat sports, mixed martial artists are always looking to find any edge that they can going into a fight. One of the most common ways for a fighter to sway a match-up to his favor these days is competing in the lightest weight division you can get your body to go to.
The decision to make a move in weight is sometimes a simple one, but not always, especially when you're already successful competing at a higher weight class... like Martin Kampmann.
The Danish fighter had reeled off four wins in a row in the UFC's 185-pound weight class before dropping a bout to fellow contender Nate Marquardt. But suffering only the second defeat of his 15-bout professional career was enough to cause Kampmann to pull the trigger on the move that he had been contemplating for some time.
"It's funny because he wanted to drop (to 170 pounds) early on," said Kampmann's manager Ken Pavia. " He said, 'Hey listen, I only cut two or three pounds (to make 185 pounds); I probably should go to 70. Let's do it.' And I said, 'I think you have a career here at 85. Why don't we play this out and see where it takes us and then if we encounter a loss, we reassess and we have a whole second career waiting for us at 170.'"
That's exactly what they did, and it worked... for a while.
"He was walking around at 87, 88; he was a very small 85er. But when you beat guys like Drew McFedries, Thales Leites, and you're 4-0 in the UFC, you're one fight away from the strap. Had he beat Marquardt; I think logically he might have gotten a title shot," Pavia continued.
But he didn't beat Marquardt and that was enough of a sign for Kampmann to at least give the crowded 170-pound division a shot.
"He unfortunately took that loss to Nate and we reassessed and he wanted to go to a weight he's more comfortable at."
And that is how Kampmann wound up on the UFC 93 fight card in Dublin, Ireland, prepared to welcome UFC newcomer Alexandre Barros to the Octagon... at 170 pounds.
Marc Ratner, Vice President of UFC Regulatory Affairs, is hard at work preparing for UFC 93 in Dublin, Ireland on Jan. 17. It's the UFC's second appearance on Irish soil. In the show's main event, Dan Henderson is scheduled to face Rich Franklin at light heavyweight.
Because the Irish government does not recognize MMA as a sport, Ratner will oversee many logistical duties normally done by an athletic commission, including hiring of referees, ringside officials, and drug testing.
"As if it would be in the state of Nevada," Ratner tells MMAInsider.
Ratner is still working on forming a commission that oversees MMA in the United Kingdom. Up until now, the British Boxing Board of Control, which once oversaw boxing in Ireland, has not been open to MMA. However, Ratner says there have been changes in the Board's executive staff, and some of the new members may be amenable to incorporating the sport.
"We're working with them, hoping that will happen," says Ratner. "The British Boxing Board of Control can be the overall entity that's in charge, but they need some kind of MMA division. That's what we're working on."
Stateside, South Carolina and Wisconsin are two targets on his to-do list. The New York legislature reconvenes in mid-January, and the UFC's strategy groups and lobbying firms are laying the groundwork for the passage of bill 1-11458-A, which would regulate MMA in the Empire State. "We feel very confident that the sport of MMA will be approved in New York this session," Ratner says. He was unclear on the timetable for Massachusetts, though a July 2008 bill to regulate the sport was passed on.
"Everywhere there's an athletic commission, we want the sport of MMA approved. So we're out there working," he said.
MMAInsider has learned that Danish middleweight Martin Kampmann will likely face UFC newcomer Alexandre Barros at UFC 93 on Jan. 17 in Dublin, Ireland in a welterweight contest.
Sources close to Kampmann said bout agreements have not yet been signed, but he has agreed to face the Brazilian fighter.
Kampmann is coming off a knockout loss at the hands of Greg Jackson disciple Nate Marquardt at UFC 88 in Atlanta, Georgia. It was his first UFC loss in five appearances since making his debut against Crafton Wallace at Ultimate Fight Night 6 in 2006. He currently trains out of Xtreme Couture's flagship gym in Las Vegas.
Barros carries a record of 13-5 in professional competition and got his start in Brazil's bare-knuckle IVC in 1999. From 2000 to 2002, he fought and lost three times in the US, most notably to Matt Hughes at "WEF 9" in May of 2000. He is currently riding a nine-fight win streak in Brazilian competition.
Tickets for UFC 93 go on sale to the general public beginning Tuesday, Oct. 21 at 9 a.m. in Ireland and the U.K. There are presale options to purchase tickets before they go on sale to the general public.
Starting Friday, Oct. 17 at 9 a.m. in Ireland and the U.K., tickets for UFC 93 go on sale to UFC Fight Club members. And on Sunday, Oct. 19 at 9 a.m. in Ireland and the U.K., tickets go on sale to newsletter subscribers.
UFC 93 is scheduled to take place on Saturday, Jan. 17 at the O2 Arena in Dublin, Ireland. It features two high profile fights for the Ultimate Fighting Championship as the promotion kicks off 2009. Rich Franklin and Dan Henderson clash in the main event and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and Mark Coleman will also do battle. Both fights are in the light heavyweight division.
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