Ilia Topuria with the UFC belt at the Santiago Bernabéu. Photo: Reproduction.
Former UFC featherweight champion (up to 65,7 kg) and undefeated as a professional, Ilia Topuria is also one of the organization's biggest stars today. With more than seven million followers on Instagram alone, Instagram, for a long time there was speculation pay-per-view in Spain headed by 'El Matador'. Despite talks about a big event in stadiums like Camp Nou and Santiago Bernabéu, the idea of Ultimate landing there may be ruled out, at least for the athlete.
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During Press conference In the country itself, the fighter spoke about the time zone differences between Spain and the USA and explained why holding a major event in the country would be unfeasible, at least at this time.
“Because of the deal that the UFC has with ESPN, the scheduling issue. If they bring a numbered event to Spain, it would have to be at 4 a.m. or 5 a.m. to be prime time on U.S. television, so I don’t see it as very feasible to have everyone up at 4 a.m. or 5 a.m.,” he said.
Events in Europe tend to be held at special times. For this reason, MMA fans in England, for example, tend to criticize the pay per view held in the country. In addition to talking about spectators, Topuria also addressed the issue as a fighter.
“Even as an athlete, I don’t see myself competing at that time. I’ve done it once in Abu Dhabi, where we had to compete at such a crazy time, and I don’t want to do that again, to be honest,” he concluded.
Dana White: “what is going on guys, a reminder that #UFCAbuDhabi will begin at the earliest time of 5pm BST/12pm ET”
UK MMA fans who had to stay up until 7am for a card in their own country last weekend:
— RedWolf (@RedWolfMMA) August 2, 2024
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