The UFC is officially tired of being humble.
Today the UFC announced the scheduling of a mid-April fight card, most likely UFC 198, at Madison Square Garden in NYC.
Las Vegas ‒ UFC® today announced a series of important steps to bring mixed martial arts (MMA) events to New York. These efforts include the scheduling of the organization’s first, professional MMA event in New York since the state’s ban in 1997. This event will take place at Madison Square Garden on April 23, 2016 featuring UFC’s top champions competing with other world-class athletes inside the Octagon®. UFC is also taking additional steps through the federal courts to ensure the event’s success.
“We believe fight fans have waited long enough to experience live UFC events in the state of New York and we are thrilled to announce our first event at Madison Square Garden,” UFC Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Lawrence Epstein said. “Professional MMA is legal around of the world and it is about time New York followed suit.”
This is the just the latest power move made by the UFC to force the state of New York to approve MMA events. Some of the promotions biggest names are from the tri-state area and every year that goes by without the UFC having a presence in the largest media market in the U.S. is a loss for the company.