Mark Shapiro, the president of the UFC’s parent company TKO, has pulled back the curtain to reveal more about how the UFC picks where their events are held, and has admitted that these days it’s simply a case of, ‘show me the money.’

“UFC is breaking records everywhere they go,” Shapiro said at Goldman-Sachs Communicopia and Technology conference. “The last numbered event in Chicago was the highest grossing event in the history of the United Center. Dating back through the Michael Jordan days. The highest grossing event and they’re already at the table trying to get another fight for next year. We’re just a couple weeks post [event].

“We still have 30 Fight Nights to sell for UFC and they can be smaller but if we’ve got a St. Louis up against a Des Moines, Iowa, if you want us back there and you’ve sold out and broken records in both your arenas, you have to pay for us to come back or else we’ll take it to another town. That goes for NXT and Raw and Smackdown on the WWE side.”

Of course some are willing to pay more than others, which explains why there’s been more events in the Middle East in recent times, and that’s a trend that looks set to continue.

“Even in the Middle East where we’re breaking out of just the Middle East, we’re in conversations right now with the Saudis and with Abu Dhabi on bringing a UFC Fight Night to Saudi,” Shapiro said. “We’ve done one before but we’re embarking on bringing a second one there and that should be financially a very good story for everyone involved.”

“No shortage of countries similar to F1 that want to see is bring our show to town,” Shapiro concluded. “We’re going to maximize those opportunities in kind but most important to me is cash. Cash kills. That’s where we are.”