While its main event ended in controversy, the Noche UFC concept
was an overall success.
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The
UFC Fight Night 227 event took place on Mexican Independence
Day this past Saturday and was designed to celebrate athletes from
the promotion with Mexican heritage. That includes flyweight
champion Alexa
Grasso, who retained her title after battling Valentina
Shevchenko to a split draw in the evening’s headliner.
UFC CEO Dana White wasn’t in attendance for the card, but he raved
about the numbers the show did on ESPN+ during the post-fight press
conference for the Contender Series on Tuesday. He also announced
plans to make UFC events on Mexican Independence Day an annual
tradition, which would follow in the footsteps of what boxing has
done over the years.
“I don’t care if somebody here in town gets the date at the arena,
I’ll go in an opposing arena and go head-to-head with them next
year,” White said. “I’m doing this for the rest of my reign
here.
“They can go on the same night, we can go head-to-head. I’m going.
The thing was a massive success for us. This is something that I’ve
been thinking about since the day we bought this company. So, we’re
finally in the position. I’m all in. All my chips are in on Mexico.
We’re opening the P.I., which we’ve spent millions and millions of
dollars on. … We did it, it was huge, and we’ll do it again every
year.”
During the UFC Fight Night 227 broadcast, it was announced that the
promotion is targeting a return to Mexico in 2024. However, a date
for that card was not confirmed. The UFC hasn’t been South of the
Border since a card headlined by Yair
Rodriguez and Jeremy
Stephens in September 2019.