It seems like Dana White and Co. are trying to avoid the mistake they made last year when the UFC made its debut in Saudi Arabia. The initial fight card didn’t please the Saudi officials, leading the CEO and his matchmaking team to make changes to the card. As the promotion heads to Azerbaijan for the first time with UFC Baku (or UFC on ABC 8), the 55-year-old has announced some interesting matchups for the maiden event.
UFC Baku is already looking good, with former light heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill set to take on former title contender Khalil Rountree Jr. in the main event. In addition to that, Dana White also set up a women’s bantamweight matchup as Irina Alekseeva, also known as ‘Russian Ronda’, will make her UFC debut. Even former interim title contender Curtis Blaydes will compete in his first 2025 matchup.
The card is looking really good, and so far, the UFC’s website has listed a total of 10 fights, which include a matchup for hometown hero, Rafael Fiziev. Now, it has been reported that Dana White and his matchmaking team are adding another fight on the UFC Baku card, involving welterweight fighters Oban Elliot and debutant Seok Hyun Ko, who joined the UFC following his win at Dana White’s Contender Series. However, the official announcement isn’t out yet.
Fans in Azerbaijan would not be disappointed when they make their way to watch the first UFC event in Baku. Dana White and Co. are living up to the payment they received as site fees from the country’s authorities to bring an event to Azerbaijan. As such, the promotion is not leaving any stone unturned as they prepare to bring travel to the South Caucasus region on 21 June.
FIGHT NEWS
Oban Elliott Vs Seok Hyun Ko at #UFCBaku June 21st
First Rep: gyodok_goat IG pic.twitter.com/JA5FyaYxoY
— Kevin (@realkevink) May 25, 2025
Just like Azerbaijan, other countries can also bring the UFC to their soil. But how? Well, TKO President and Chief Operating Officer Mark Shapiro claims there are a few ways to do that, with site fees being one of those options. Here’s what he had to say.
Dana White can bring the UFC to other countries if they’re offered ‘incentives’
The WWE and UFC merger that led to the formation of TKO Group Holdings has led to a different business approach for both promotions. During a recent interview, Mark Shapiro claimed that not only did Azerbaijan pay a site fee to bring Dana White’s promotion to their country, but the WWE also received a whopping $16 million sum to bring its events to Australia. Shapiro claims that there is a lot of demand, and if countries and different regions want them to bring UFC fights and WWE shows to their towns, they need to give them some incentive, and it need not necessarily be money.
“We’re getting site fees for our pay-per-views in the UFC… and we’re going to starting to ask for those same incentive packages to bring [WWE] Raw to town, to bring [WWE] Smackdown to town, to bring our Fight Nights to town,” Shapiro stated. “We want to see incentive packages in order for us to bring those fights to town. I think there’s tremendous upside.”
If the UFC comes to different regions around the world, those places have a high percentage of seeing their tourism industries, and as a result, local businesses getting a boost. So, we could be witnessing Dana White taking the promotion to different countries in the future if those nations offer them the kind of incentive that the TKO President-COO has mentioned above. Regardless, what are your thoughts on the UFC Baku card? Do you think it will live up to the expectations? Drop your comments below.
The post Good News for UFC Baku as Dana White & Co. Add Another Banger on Hill vs. Rountree Jr. Card appeared first on EssentiallySports.