It’s long been suspected, and on Saturday, following UFC Edmonton, it was confirmed: The UFC Apex is here to stay, in terms of housing UFC Fight Night events.
That’s not to say that the promotion won’t be returning to the road more often. In fact it will be, according to UFC Vice President of International and Content David Shaw, who filled in for Dana White during Saturday’s post-fight press conference.
“There’ll be an increased number of events outside of the Apex relative to this year as we get into the 2025 schedule,” Shaw told Cageside Press on Saturday, following an Edmonton show that set a record as the highest-grossing Fight Night event in North American history at $2.6 million U.S.
Asked in a follow-up whether some amount of UFC Apex shows were here to stay, however, Shaw confirmed they would be. “Yes,” he replied, without confirming a specific number.
“It’s tough for us to anticipate what two or three years down the road is going to look like, but it makes a lot of sense for a lot of reasons. There’s a lot of fighters in Vegas, it’s easy for us operationally, it’s obviously simple from a budgetary perspective.”
“The rigor and the pressure and how laborious it can be to be on the road, I mean you guys know it, you’re week in and week out with us and other promotions. It’s tough,” he added. “So I think having home games and being in the Apex where you can just turn off the lights and lock the door, it makes a lot of sense for us. Will we ever get back to pre-COVID of no Apex, I don’t think so. But I think we’re going to find the right balance for us.”
Finding that balance may be difficult, given the number of fighters on Saturday’s card who expressed their satisfaction with fighting in front of a crowd, whether they were booed or cheered. UFC Edmonton featured a sort of electric atmosphere – most obvious in the main event, though the fans made themselves heard even in the opening fight of the evening, with Jamey-Lyn Horth defeating Ivana Petrovic – that the Apex simply hasn’t been able to replicate.
