The debut of the Ultimate Fighting Championship® in Sweden is already a knockout at the box office. Tickets for the event, which takes place Saturday, April 14 at Ericsson Globe Arena in Stockholm, sold out just hours after of going on sale to the public. The tremendous success makes UFC® SWEDEN the fastest selling European event in UFC history.
“People have been telling me how big of a market Sweden was for the UFC and today, the fans went out and proved it,” UFC President Dana White said. “I love taking the UFC to new markets. I can’t wait to get to Stockholm in April because we’re going to put on a great event!”
According to Marie Lindqvist, communications manager at Ericsson Globe Arena, the huge demand for UFC has only been matched by the biggest international pop stars. What’s more, the demand for tickets is also unprecedented by any other martial arts event in Sweden since the pro boxing prohibition was pushed through in 1970.
Bouts for this record-breaking card include: Stockholm’s rising star Alexander Gustafsson vs. former PRIDE® star Rogerio “Lil’ Nog” Nogueira in an exciting light heavyweight main event; Siyar Bahadurzada vs. Paulo Thiago in welterweight action; DaMarques Johnson vs. John Maguire in a 170-pound contest; undefeated kickboxer Jörgen Kruth of Sweden vs. French striker Cyrille Diabate at light heavyweight; middleweight competitor Magnus “Jycken” Cedenblad of Sweden against highly-touted prospect Francis Carmont; middleweight standout Brian Stann vs. Italian striker Alessio Sakara; bantamweight action pitting British bomber Brad Pickett vs. free-swinging American Damacio Page; welterweight James Head vs. Papy Abedi, who was born in France, but now lives and trains in Stockholm.