- The UFC Fight Night 176 will take place in Las Vegas, according to sources who contacted Dana White.
- Arizona was planned to host the event if Nevada’s authorities were to keep the suspension of sports events.
- Tyron Woodley and Gilbert Burns are meeting in the main fight of the event.
Sources Say White confirmed Las Vegas
All the media reported the news revealed by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, which allegedly got the message from Dana White in which the UFC president confirms that the next UFC event will take place in Las Vegas.
“We are a go on the 30th,” White wrote in the message half an hour after midnight.
This info solved the mystery of the location of the next UFC event, scheduled for May 30. So far, numerous speculations involved this topic, and the fans were wondering what would happen with it.
White was hoping that the authorities in Nevada would lift the ban imposed on organizing sports events. In that situation, the UFC could use its Apex facility, located next to the organization’s headquarters.
The Nevada Athletic Commission is yet to confirm all this, as they didn’t share any information on lifting the imposed ban.
White was determined to wait until the last minute to see what happens, but he did have the backup plan. It is said that UFC already secured the location in Arizona, and even if they experienced some problems there, the entire event would be relocated to Jacksonville, where UFC already had three successful shows over the last few weeks.
Woodley Faces Burns in the Main Event
UFC Fight Night 176, as some call it, will feature the former welterweight champion Tyron Woodley and the rising star from Brazil, Gilbert Burns.
These two guys were desperate to find themselves a fight during the entire time of COVID-19 pandemic, and they offered their services to White, for all the events in the last three months.
Woodley had a scheduled fight against Leon Edwards, but that bout had to be canceled when the virus emerged. Meanwhile, Burns was waiting for his chance to call out some big names, and in the end it was Woodley who accepted the challenge.
At first, the former champ wanted to fight Colby Covington at the UFC 249, in a match which would be a replacement for the main event – Khabib vs. Ferguson. At the time, numerous stories appeared, and they involved several fighters who were calling each other. The most sounding names besides the above mentioned were Jorge Masvidal and Kamaru Usman.
In all the chaos those days, the only ones who agreed to meet inside the octagon were The Chosen One and Durinho.
Two other confirmed matches for this event are Augusto Sakai vs. Blagoy Ivanov and Mackenzie Dern vs. Hannah Cifers.
Also, according to some sources, the UFC 250 should be held at the same place. That event includes the title fight for the women’s featherweight champion between Amanda Nunes and Felicia Spencer.
There were several other matchups confirmed, but so far, none is drawing at least a similar attention like this.
