The UFC was once the big roadshow on the MMA scene, but then COVID happened. While the rest of the world has bounced back with sports travel, the UFC has not.
UFC Applies for Several Dates at the Apex to Start 2022
It was reported by Nolan King of MMA Junkie that the UFC has booked several dates for upcoming UFC events, but rather than going on the road, they appear to be staying put in the comfort of the UFC Apex.
Also – the UFC has applied for event licenses for Jan. 15, Feb. 5, Feb. 19, and March 12 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
— Nolan King (@mma_kings) December 8, 2021
While not mentioned here, King also mentions that the UFC event date for February 26th is also being pegged for the Apex versus the rumor of Columbus, Ohio.
Pre-COVID, the UFC held 42 events in 39 different cities in 2019. They only repeated visits to Las Vegas and Melbourne. Since then, however, with the United States being open for business, they have only made the trips to The Apex, Abu Dhabi, Houston, New York City, and Jacksonville. Many speculated with the new year that the UFC would get back to its old ways of being the roadshow, but appears so far that the UFC is playing it safe with the same travel routes.
It could be that with the Omicron variant just starting up in the United States that they want to play things safe and avoid any canceled events. There is also the flip of where the UFC may be able to save money by loading up cards in the Apex because they don’t have to rent out any arenas and save on marketing because the tickets they sell for those are small in number and exclusive.
The latter part can obviously be debated, but the promotion can save money while also just ignoring the issue of fighter pay, which also isn’t reported when the UFC stays at the Apex. Hopefully, the UFC gets back on the road by the summer and gets back to being the show that made its rounds around the country and gives back to the fans that stuck with them through the last two years.
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