UFC Moscow official for Sept. 15 in Russia

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La Paix

Fuck this place
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Jan 14, 2015
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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will (finally) make its long-awaited debut in Russia on September 15, 2018 inside Olympic Stadium in Moscow, a “Fight Night” event that will no doubt be stacked with local talent.

As for reigning lightweight pawn champion Khabib Nurmagomedov ... well, that’s unlikely, as “The Eagle” is probably being saved for a pay-per-view (PPV) showdown soon thereafter at Madison Square Garden, or perhaps some other venue to be named.

“Russia is a key part of UFC’s international expansion strategy,” UFC Senior Vice President of International and Content David Shaw said in today’s release. “The demand from our fans to bring a live event to Russia has been overwhelming, and with the vast potential this market holds for us, we knew this was the perfect time to bring UFC Fight Night to Moscow.”

UFC Moscow official for Sept. 15 in Russia
 

nuraknu

savage
Jul 20, 2016
6,247
10,754
Could be Oliynyk and Werdum. I would probably pick Werdum by ko but would like to see Oliynyk get his chance at another big name since he wants it and Werdum's coming off a loss now (which kind of sucks since he was on such a roll).
 

Sheepdog

Protecting America from excessive stool loitering
Dec 1, 2015
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Seems the UFC knows what a lot of forum dipshits don't, and that's that Khabib is a solid North American draw.
 

La Paix

Fuck this place
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Seems the UFC knows what a lot of forum dipshits don't, and that's that Khabib is a solid North American draw.
FrankieNYC @FrankieNYC can you confirm this? I thought Khabib has been on prelims and fox for the most part. He's been on six PPVs and half of those he was on the prelims and only main event once in the other three.
 

FrankieNYC

"My balls was hot!"
Aug 13, 2017
3,959
6,706
This here.
He is certainly someone they have hopes of being a draw.
What is says to me, is that they might be hoping Conor fights him in winter (MSG?) so they are holding him for that
But he is certainly one of the few fighters with any buzz, but nobody outside of the usual suspects (Conor, GSP, Diaz, Jones) is a real draw.

I think his upside as a draw is huge
 

Rambo John J

Baker Team
First 100
Jan 17, 2015
75,351
74,490


Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will (finally) make its long-awaited debut in Russia on September 15, 2018 inside Olympic Stadium in Moscow, a “Fight Night” event that will no doubt be stacked with local talent.

As for reigning lightweight pawn champion Khabib Nurmagomedov ... well, that’s unlikely, as “The Eagle” is probably being saved for a pay-per-view (PPV) showdown soon thereafter at Madison Square Garden, or perhaps some other venue to be named.

“Russia is a key part of UFC’s international expansion strategy,” UFC Senior Vice President of International and Content David Shaw said in today’s release. “The demand from our fans to bring a live event to Russia has been overwhelming, and with the vast potential this market holds for us, we knew this was the perfect time to bring UFC Fight Night to Moscow.”

UFC Moscow official for Sept. 15 in Russia
two ring girls on left are very attractive...very
 

Sheepdog

Protecting America from excessive stool loitering
Dec 1, 2015
8,912
14,224
But he's only headlined one main event on PPV and that event didn't break 500k iirc.
'Solid draw'. I didn't say 'big' draw. There essentially is no currently active 'big draw' in MMA, so the UFC has to rely on 'solid'.

The UFC has access to other metrics beyond the single PPV Khabib has headlined, which was a disaster of a card and he was facing friggin Al Iaquinta by the end. Prior to that he was co-main of Cyborg vs Holm and had been showcased under Conor-Alvarez. CM Punk also has never headlined a card but the UFC can work out ways of assessing his value.

They see him as more valuable to them headlining big North American PPV cards than putting him in Russia. They wouldn't do that if they didn't think he was a 'solid' draw. That's all you need to know.
 

La Paix

Fuck this place
First 100
Jan 14, 2015
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'Solid draw'. I didn't say 'big' draw. There essentially is no currently active 'big draw' in MMA, so the UFC has to rely on 'solid'.

The UFC has access to other metrics beyond the single PPV Khabib has headlined, which was a disaster of a card and he was facing friggin Al Iaquinta by the end. Prior to that he was co-main of Cyborg vs Holm and had been showcased under Conor-Alvarez. CM Punk also has never headlined a card but the UFC can work out ways of assessing his value.

They see him as more valuable to them headlining big North American PPV cards than putting him in Russia. They wouldn't do that if they didn't think he was a 'solid' draw. That's all you need to know.