Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) recently announced its return to The O2 Arena in London, England, scheduled for Sat., March 22, 2024. That should have the mixed martial arts (MMA) fans living across the pond jumping for joy, right?
Well … not exactly.
Turns out local ticket holders are still butthurt about the UFC 304 pay-per-view (PPV) card last July in Manchester, which had a “crazy” main card start time of 3 a.m. to accommodate stateside viewers. Participating fighters weren’t exactly thrilled, either.
“If you mfs make us show up at 3am again then we are boycotting,” one fan wrote under the promotion’s Twitter announcement, while another added “this better be on UK time.” A majority of the reactions seemed to focus on the local start time.
Here’s the good news.
Since the UFC London card on March 22 is expected to be a non-PPV “Fight Night” card, the promotion is likely to schedule the bouts for prime time, much like it did for its previous trip to London with Tom Aspinall in tow (sample here).
No word yet on who will be competing at UFC London on March 22.