As we mentioned previously, the UFC has a big announcement to make on November 17th in Las Vegas and yesterday they gave more info on what they have in store for us.
While they still have something kept up their sleeve for now, they have now revealed that for the first time ever, on November 17th they’ll be unveiling their entire 2015 schedule at a special press conference that fans will be able to watch online.
“The stars of the UFC® will converge in Las Vegas alongside UFC President Dana White to launch an incredible slate of upcoming events,” the official UFC announcement reads. “THE TIME IS NOW launch will feature the largest compilation of champions, contenders and main event headliners on the same stage. The event, which is free and open to the public, will take place at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts at 2 p.m. PT on Monday, Nov. 17, and will be streamed live on www.ufc.com.”
In attendance at the presser will be some of the UFC’s biggest fighters including Jon Jones, Daniel Cormier, Anderson Silva, Nick Diaz, Ronda Rousey and Conor McGregor who we already know have big fights coming up in the first few months of 2015.
For those who were hoping for something more exciting from this announcement then hang in there as they do appear to be holding back some kind of secret for the event.
“For the first time ever, the UFC will also unveil its entire 2015 calendar and make a very special announcement.“
Who knows what that special announcement will be, but according to MMAfighting’s Ariel Helwani it won’t be the return of either Brock Lesnar or GSP.
As for the calendar unveiling – don’t expect to know exactly who’s going to be fighting who for the entire year as that would be almost impossible unless their big announcement is that Zuffa has invented a crystal ball to find out who’s going to win their next fights! Given that they also struggle to hold together an event over a period of just a few months due to unforseen injuries, it’d be unwise to announce any fights that are further over the horizon.
Most likely it’ll just be a map of when and where the events will be taking place, and with that in mind it’ll be interesting to see just how many events they have planned and how they’ll space them out across the year.
This year they’ve weighed in with 45 in total (including UFC 176 which ended up being cancelled) which, despite complaints of over-saturation from some quarters, is actually less than the 50+ they had originally intended.
PPV numbers have dropped in 2014 while TV ratings have stalled, but the promotion appears to be happy with their UFC Fight Pass subscription service which launched earlier in the year and their aggressive international expansion seems to be paying off financially for the company, so the odds are that they probably will continue with their current quantity based strategy going forward.
Speaking of their international exploits, one of the other major talking points coming from the presser will more than likely be which new destinations around the globe the UFC are targeting for the coming year.
