Shortly after announcing the UFC Noche card for Mexican Independence Day weekend, Dana White gave fans more good news. The Apex, home to UFC Fight Night events as well as some PPV cards over the year, will undergo a drastic transformation as the organization looks to completely revamp the venue and go global.
For the unversed, the UFC Apex is like the ‘home court’ for the organization, the place where they host a lot of fights and other shows such as the contender series.
In a recent interview with TNT Sports on YouTube, White revealed exactly what the organization was planning to do and how much they were shelling out on the renovation,
“The other thing is we’re actually…the Apex is going under construction here. We’re actually expanding the Apex. It’s gonna be bigger and better. We’re doing like a $25M expansion on the Apex.”
Dana White: We’re gonna travel more with the fight nights. The other thing is we’re actually…the Apex is going under construction. We’re actually expanding the Apex. It’s gonna be bigger and better. We’re doing like a $25M expansion on the Apex.pic.twitter.com/4HYoOSSfD0
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) July 26, 2024
The UFC president then also revealed that they were going to add more bathrooms and hospitality as well as increase the seating capacity for the fans.
While this is indeed great news, the Apex is not the only thing that has White excited.
White can’t wait to see what Tom Aspinall’s future holds
Although White considers Jon Jones the greatest MMA fighter of all time and has not granted Aspinall his undisputed title fight despite the latter already being the interim heavyweight champion, he still thinks very highly of him.
In fact, the UFC president revealed in the same interview with TNT Sports that he was looking forward to see what Aspinall can do over the next few years in the company.
And given that he is English, it would undoubtedly be a huge business opportunity across the pond for the company.
“And now we’re gonna find out what Aspinall can do over the next several years. If you can have a reigning, defending heavyweight champion of the UFC, born and bred in the UK, it’s gonna be massive.”
Dana White: And now we’re gonna find out what Aspinall can do over the next several years. If you can have a reigning, defending heavyweight champion of the UFC, born and bred in the UK, it’s gonna be massive. pic.twitter.com/UZkkUC6GWh
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) July 26, 2024
The UK market is something the UFC has not explored as much as the United States even though the company already has another Englishman, Leon Edwards as their WW champion. But without any offense to Edwards, he just doesn’t have the kind of star power, the one that pulls crowds and fills stadiums.
And while, Paddy ‘The Baddy’ Pimblett has that kind of power but he is yet to break into UFC Top 10 rankings, so there’s a long way to go for him. Meanwhile, Aspinall is already there. He is great on the mic and dominant inside the octagon and puts behinds on seats.
But for now, Aspinall has one very big problem standing in his way to the title shot in Curtis Blaydes. This weekend, he will have to show if he is worth the hype, beat Blaydes and move on to fight for the undisputed title against the winner of Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic.
