ULTIMATE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP officials have visited Croke Park with a view to hosting an event headlined by Conor McGregor.
Should McGregor overcome Dennis Siver at UFC Fight Night 59 this Sunday night, his next fight will be for the UFC featherweight title against defending champion Jose Aldo.
UFC boss Dana White has confirmed that the proposed bout will either take place in Las Vegas or at Croke Park.
When asked by TheScore.ie if Croke Park would be open to having MMA’s largest organisation at GAA HQ, Stadium Director Peter McKenna said: “Yes, absolutely. Conor McGregor is clearly an outstanding athlete, it’s great to see his success on the international stage and we’d be very pleased to host the event, if that’s their wish.”
McKenna said the UFC have enquired about a date for this May, and he also confirmed that any such event would need to end prior to 11pm — a curfew which would be put in place by Dublin City Council.
This curfew would be one of the major stumbling blocks for the UFC, as it would likely require a midday start for the main card on the west coast of America. A potential fight between Aldo and McGregor is as big as it gets in the UFC right now, so broadcasting it outside of a prime-time slot in the US would represent a major risk in terms of pay-per-view buys.
But Dave Allen – the UFC’s Director of Brand, Communications and Events in the EMEA region – intimated to TheScore.ie that it may be a risk they’re willing to take.
“If there are curfews, that’s okay,” said Allen. “Not all events have to hit US timelines. The way we think is, how can we get the most people to watch our events? We have fans all around the world consuming the product. But we haven’t looked at any of that at this moment.
“I don’t think curfews, licences or any of that are stopping us from going anywhere. We come up against that process everywhere we go, and that’s the process we will go through again if Conor wins this weekend and we decide we’re going to go that way.
“Once we get to that stage, then we have to get in to a planning process. Then we have to start working out where is the best place to hold that event. There are a number of different things that have to be looked at before we can say we’re going to Croke Park, the Aviva Stadium, Las Vegas… a lot of work has to be done beforehand, so I would not be counting the chickens before this egg has hatched.”
Chief among the other obstacles in front of the UFC coming to Croke Park are ticket sales, our unreliable climate and convincing Jose Aldo — the UFC’s champion for the past four-and-a-half years — to defend his belt in McGregor’s hometown instead of Las Vegas or his native Brazil.
Allen said he’s confident the UFC could fill the stadium, with fans likely to travel from across the globe for what would be the largest event in the history of the organisation. And as for the rain: ”We would take precautions around that. That’s not something that would stop us.”
The UFC are clearly enthusiastic about a Croke Park date, so the onus is now on Conor McGregor to see off Dennis Siver and move the process on to the next stage.
Noone won’t be happy about that.
Garth Brooks would disagree. No doubt there’ll be people opposed to it even though it’d put Ireland on the map for no doubt the biggest MMA crowd in history. Like a Wrestlemania type of event!
I’m happy to see some sort of clarification over the event time. I knew 2am onwards sounded daft.
I hear he’s gonna do 5 nights though….
But I heard he’s only allowed do three nights…
Really Dan?? Ah, not to worry. I’m sure it’ll all work out.
What’s the worst that could happen!
Looking like croke park is going to be sold out!
Be less violence than your average Gaelic Football game anyway.
Would love to see it happen big appetite in America for it happen with many Americans I’ve been talking to wanting to come over
http://www.bjpenn.com/conor-mcgregor-breaks-sports-science-lab-records/
Wow he is amazing………….yawn…………….it will not be long and he will be world champ crowned in Dublin the perfect ending and mega bucks for the ufc
Please make this this happen superman!
Don’t tell Owen Keegan (DCC) about it he will only pull the plug on it the day before after 20 ppl object.
Don’t forget the bogus objections.
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Check the GAA fixtures calendar first lads. No repeats of semi final replay in Limerick.
Are the going to construct a roof or covering for either stadium in case it is lashing on the day?
Yes cormac, I believe they are definitely going to construct a covering for croke park especially for the event although they did say it could take a number of hours to make due to the size of the covering required. There are representatives from croke park scouring dublins fruit market all day looking for a suitable material to use also. They’ve recommended a canvas based covering although some have also suggested some sort of reinforced plastic.
To be fair, the weather was one thing Dana White did say scared him about an outdoor event in ireland. I’d say some sort of covering would be put in place for the ring anyway
Al, you have replied to sarcasm with sarcasm. Well done!
Grab all association welcomes more ways to make money what a shock!!
Dry your eyes eamonn
Something, something, something Garth Brooks…hahaha!!! :-I
Of course they will, probably contact aikin to see it they can arrange anything on the 5 in a row front
The weather better hold up that day, MDMA fight in the pissing rain?
MDMA fight? Are you mixing McGregor up with Jon Jones????
Cant see it happening – it will get SFA PPV buys in the US if its finishing at 3pm on the West Coast, with the under card possibly starting at 11am over there. The the unreliabilty of the weather, the Ring area will have to be tarped off meaning alot the top tiers in Croke Park will be have restricted views, if any view at all.
You heard it here first… http://18pounds.com/2015/01/15/mcgregor-and-mcilroy-credit-record-hip-mobility-scores-to-shared-irish-dancing-past/
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