"We haven't made the final decision as to whether or not our event on November the 15th will be at Etihad Stadium, or at a venue like Rod Laver Arena, because we don't really know who's going to be on the card." Tom Wright, the UFC's Director of Operations for Australia told MMA Kanvas.
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"We haven't made the final decision as to whether or not our event on November the 15th will be at Etihad Stadium, or at a venue like Rod Laver Arena" |
The big wigs at the Nevada-based promotion are well aware that they only get one chance to make a first impression, so Wright is still confident that they can bring a landmark event to "the sporting capital of the world."
"I'd love to see a couple of championship fights and go to Etihad," Wright revealed
"I rely on the best matchmakers in the business - Joe Silva and Sean Shelby, and obviously they make those calls though."
MMA Kanvas has since contacted Etihad Stadium, who confirmed that there are currently no eventsscheduled on November 15th, the day UFC plans to make the Melbourne premiere.
That's not to say that the UFC don't have a placeholder on the venue, but officially - nothing is "booked".
"The great thing about Melbourne is there are some fabulous venues here. Rod Laver Arena is a fabulous venue, Hisense Arena is nice too. There are many, many different opportunities for us." Wright added.
Wright, the former commissioner of the Canadian Football League (CFL), has been making regular trips to Australia for a number of years.
During those visits, he has serves as the de facto figurehead of the promotion in Australia, and landed the unenviable task of trying to sway the opinion of stubborn politicians as to the "cage ban" and its application to MMA in Victoria.
When Labor Sports Minister John Eren made the official announcement of the cage ban being overturned this morning he was admittedly "thrilled".
"We have been working on this for a long time," he added "And we've always felt that when you provide facts and statistics and argue from a basis of objectivity that it was a question of when, not if, this day would come."
Wright, along with many others, have fought long and hard to unlock Melbourne as an option for UFC events. Now they expect Victoria to become a regular stopping point on the company's growing schedule of events.
"There are certain cities around the world that can handle a regular (event), and we think Melbourne is one. Not too dissimilar to Sydney. We've been coming since 2010 and we've been to Sydney four times and I feel that Melbourne is a world-class city and it's the kind of city we'd love to have as a regular fixture."
While this is a fantastic day for Wright and his team at the UFC, the war still isn't over yet. Western Australia is still in the dark, and is now the only state that disallows mixed martial arts bouts inside a cage.
For Wright, it means he has to put on the figurative boxing gloves back on and return to battle, but he's optimistic that Victoria changing their tune will speed up the process of overturning the final cage ban in Australia.
"With Victoria seeing the light, if I can use that term, and becoming more enlightened about fighters safety and fighter equality, we'll use those points to argue that W.A should follow suit."
"I think on my next trip down here I will make it over to W.A. We will continue to put forward out arguments of ensuring there's a safe environment for our athletes to compete in, and a fair environment."
The UFC will first head to Adelaide on May 10, with Wright shooting down rumours that the promotion will also host an event in Sydney in 2015.
"I haven't heard of that rumour, so I can confirm it isn't true."
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