African countries continue to develop at a rapid pace and major companies are looking to the continent as a place to lay down roots. The continent is growing at an immense rate, with a variety of organizations looking at Africa’s 54 countries as ideal for building new customers and fans.
In 2010, the FIFA World Cup was held in South Africa. The soccer tournament was the first major sporting event held in an African country. Since then, there have been plenty of expectations for another major sporting event to be held in Africa.
MMA fans in Tanzania are hoping the UFC arrives in Africa soon. Until it does, MMA fans can visit bettors.co.tz to learn more about sports betting in Tanzania and find out about the latest sports betting news.
The UFC is one organization that could hold an event on the continent. However, the mixed martial arts promotion currently doesn’t have plans to visit Africa despite holding events in the United Arab Emirates and Brazil previously.
Although some of UFC’s and MMA’s biggest names hail from Africa, the fight promotion has never held an event on the continent. Fighters such as Kamaru Usman and Israel Adesanya can trace their roots to Nigeria. Former UFC Heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou is from Cameroonian and was one of the promotion’s most popular fighters before being stripped of the title belt in January 2023. Ngannou left the UFC due to a contract dispute.
According to previous reports, UFC head honcho Dana White is open to the possibility of holding a show in Africa. Adesanya has talked about the prospect of the UFC promoting a show in Africa and the excitement it could generate.
There are some issues that could prevent UFC from running a show in Africa. One of the issues Adesanya identified in an interview with Ariel Helwani was corruption. According to Adesanya, there is too much red tape, greed, and corruption in Africa for a major event to be held.
In September 2022, UFC held its 279 event and in post-show interviews, White spoke about the possibility of a show being held in Africa. White stated the fight promotion is open to going to the continent more than ever before. According to White, the promotion is looking at cities to host a UFC show along with venues. He also said that a show in Africa will take place soon. So, it appears the UFC in Africa is not a matter of if, but a matter of when.
In November, White followed up with his talk of an African UFC show by naming Nigeria as the country the promotion is targeting. There is a possibility that UFC would hold a show outdoors at a major stadium.
Although Nigeria is being targeted by UFC according to White, it still feels like the fight promotion is a long way from holding its first-ever African-based event. However, with the number of African fighters in the UFC and a large fan base on the continent, the promotion could thrive.
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