Following UFC 315 on Saturday, the promotion’s return to those hallowed grounds where over 19,000 fans turned up to see Jack Della Maddalena dethrone Belal Muhammad for GSP’s old belt, you can rest assured there won’t be another ten-year gap between visits.

Filling in for Dana White at the UFC 315 post-fight press conference, UFC Senior Vice President of International and Content David Shaw noted that the promotion views Montreal as a Pay-Per-View calibre city.

“Yeah absolutely. I think in our mind, Montreal is a Pay-Per-View city, and so there are a number of Pay-Per-View cities in Canada,” stated Shaw, asked whether the promotion might visit the city more frequently. “We’re trying to get back to maybe three events a year. So it certainly won’t be as long as it’s been.”

Prior to the coronavirus pandemic setting in and shutting things down in early 2020, Canada had seen a steady three UFC events per year. That changed with COVID, as the promotion did not return to the country until a stop in Vancouver in 2023. Two shows, one in Toronto and one in Edmonton, took place last year. Montreal marked the first Canadian show of 2025; there will be at least one more, Shaw confirmed to Cageside Press.

Asked about a rumored second date, “the update is that we will have a date, the lack of update is that we don’t have a date to disclose,” stated Shaw. “Nor do we have a city to disclose. But we’re actively working on it. Not going to happen in the summer, so we’re looking at the fall. October, November.”

Watch the full UFC 315 post-fight press conference appearance by David Shaw above.

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The promotion was back on British soil once again for UFC London on Saturday, and the March date in the British capital has become something of a tradition. “It seems like this March date works out really well for our calendar,” UFC Senior VP of International and Content, David Shaw, said following the event, speaking with media outlets including Cageside Press.

Shaw, as he often does following international cards, played the role of Dana White at Saturday’s post-fight press conference, announcing the night’s bonuses and fielding questions from reporters. The obvious one: when does the UFC plan on getting back to the U.K., and could there be a second show on British soil this year? After all, talent from the region is booming, thanks in part to regional shows like Cage Warriors.

“We don’t base it on the fighters. Calendar is set six to nine months out. We’re always trying to be in the U.K. twice a year, sometimes it works out, and sometimes it doesn’t,” replied Shaw. “Also driven by the other events we want to do throughout Europe, throughout the Middle East and North Africa. But typically we enter every year trying to get to the U.K. twice.”

So a second U.K. show in 2025? Shaw wouldn’t confirm it. However, he added, “it’s possible.”

The Czech Republic and Germany have also seen MMA take off, and the UFC does have plans to visit one or the other in the near future, though not this year. “So not in 25, but 26,” said Shaw. A trip to either makes sense, as Oktagon MMA has exploded in both countries, hosting shows in packed arenas and even soccer stadiums. Shawn is aware of the growing European promotion it seems.

“It’s definitely encouraging. We hear a lot about the Oktagon situation, I think they broadcast their events on RTL. We just renewed our deal with DAZN in Germany, and they talked a lot about the growth of the sport, citing what Oktagon has been doing,” revealed Shaw. “Which I think is great. So what does it do for us? Obviously it helps generate a number of local athletes, so the pipeline is stronger for athletes in those particular regions. Galvanizes fanbase, helps make broadcast and media values increase, and it shows there’s demand from a ticket sales perspective.”

“So for us, extremely encouraging, which is why I mention not 25 but 26 as the next likely window that we’d consider going.”

One complication is the broadcast situation in the U.S., noted Shaw, without expanding on the subject. “I think I’ve talked about that quite a bit in the past.” The UFC’s deal with ESPN is up at the end of the year, with players including Netflix and Amazon likely to show interest in picking up the promotion, were a new deal with the UFC’s current home not reached.

The oft-talked about but yet to materialize UFC Africa was also brought up following Saturday’s London card. According to Shaw, the event, which remains a goal for UFC President and CEO Dana White, is “a massive priority.”

“There’s so much excitement unlocking new markets. And you don’t get to do it that often. We did it a few years ago in France, and it’s been such a great ride. There’s a few other countries that we are trying to get to this year, and hopefully in the next few weeks we’ve got some announcements. But it’s a really special moment.”

Watch the full UFC London post-fight press conference with David Shaw above.

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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.

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It was a scene UFC Senior Vice President of International and Content, David Shaw, later told media outlets including Cageside Press was “unequivocally the highlight of the night.”

“To me the energy level was at peak during that fight,” said Shaw, who noted that the fan reception to Aldo was “as intense, as fervent as we’ve every seen.”

As for Aldo himself, Shaw suggested that “from my perspective he looked sharp, he looked quick, he looked engaged. He looked like he enjoyed himself, which was different from I think the last few fights we saw prior to his retirement a few years ago.”

Shaw added that it was “special” to have Aldo on the card, given UFC 301 was the promotion’s 40th trip to Brazil, making it the most visited destination outside of the U.S.

As for a potential return to Brazil, which once saw up to five events per year, fans can expect one more in 2024.

“It’s fluid every year. The years prior to COVID, we aimed to get here three times, we’ll probably get here two times this year. We’re still pushing to be a true global sport, so we want to make sure we have enough events for all of our international regions. But make no mistake, Brazil is a priority market for us.”

Of over 600 fighters, Shaw pointed out that over 100 are Brazilian, over 20 of them ranked. As for touching down in new destinations in Brazil, or South America as a whole, “not in 2024, but absolutely, we’re looking at Ecuador in 2025,” Shaw stated.

Watch the full UFC 301 post-fight press conference with UFC Senior Vice President of International and Content David Shaw above.

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Along with that, the promotion is hosting UFC 297 in Toronto, stacked with Canadian fighters, many of whom were on hand at the event’s kick-off press conference at SportsNet Studios on Tuesday.

Also on hand was UFC Senior VP of International and Content, David Shaw, who told media outlets including Cageside Press that when it comes to Canadian fans, “they gravitate to Canadian stars that have histories in their communities, and have a commitment to the sport in those provinces.”

And that’s where the promotion sees SportsNet as able to help — telling the stories of those athletes. “For us, what SportsNet can bring is a renewed cycle of growth for our brand and for our athletes. And that’s what we’re thrilled about today.”

The question for Canadian fans since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic has been “when?” As in, “when will the UFC return to Canada?” That happened this past June with UFC 289 in Vancouver. The January date in Toronto will be the promotion’s second since COVID waned, but historically speaking, Canada was getting three events a year. Per Shaw, that’s the goal — and maybe even one more.

“We’re committed to coming back to Canada two, three, four events,” he stated. “We’re not sure how many we can hold next year, our schedule is still in the works. What I can tell you is, Canada ranks third in terms of total number of events by country. U.S. first, Brazil second, and Canada third.”

David Shaw pointed out that UFC 297 in Toronto will be the promotion’s thirty-third trip to Canada overall. “Our commitment to Canada is steadfast and we will not be wavering at all.”

Watch the full UFC 297 press conference with David Shaw and some of the Canadian stars on the card above.

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“We’re hugely grateful for the response that’s happened here in France,” Shaw told media outlets including Cageside Press following Saturday’s UFC Paris. “I think last time we were here in Paris, 70% of the tickets were bought by people outside Paris, which shows that love for MMA is all around the country. So we’re thrilled, we couldn’t be happier with the way that things played out.”

Shaw added that in a phone call to colleagues back in Las Vegas, he was told those watching could tell how loud the French fans were on the broadcast, with cheering and chants and singing. “It made a really powerful statement. Will other European countries rally around that? I’m sure they will in time, but this is a pretty special situation right now.”

Which means that the UFC ideally will keep France as an annual destination, much like England.

“Yeah, we’d love to. We said for many years as we were going through the legalization process and meeting with different constituents around the country, this is a destination we want to be in every year.”

Next year, however, could be “a different story with the Olympics and Para-Olympics which goes really through September, which is typically when we’re here,” noted Shaw. “So it’s going to be a bit of a different puzzle for us next year, but absolutely it’s top of the list for us to come here every year.”

That could also mean expanding outside of Paris, where the UFC made its debut in 2022. Both shows to date have been held in the city’s Accor Arena.

“Yes. We’ve had a lot of conversations especially this week about the other destinations we could go. And if we’re able to increase the output for France by more than just one event, there are a few different cities that we would consider,” said Shaw. “We talked about Marseilles, which I think would be a good destination, and there’s a few others that are on the list. No decisions yet, but actually we talked about that a lot this week. So who knows. We’ll get the events schedule sorted out for 2024, and we’ll get back to you.”

The stunning showing by French fighters on Saturday makes it easy to see the sort of success other European fighters could have at home. Ilia Topuria stands out, with ties to all of Spain, Germany, and Georgia.

Seeing fighters like Topuria break out does motivate the promotion to target new territories, admitted Shaw. “Yeah. The flat answer is, it does. Every time there’s some breakout performance or someone seems to be climbing the ranks, Dana [White, UFC President]’s like ‘we’ve got to go to that country.’ We’ve got to take advantage. It’s one of the reasons we had the PPV with Leon in March. It’s like, we’ve got an opportunity to take an athlete to their home country at a point in their career which we can make the greatest impact.” Shaw also noted that, since the UFC doesn’t do PPVs on European time, such a move requires a lot of negotiation both internally and with partners. But still, live events are different, “and we want to take advantage of those opportunities.”

Watch the full UFC Paris post-fight press conference with David Shaw above.

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The twice-yearly time frame is expected to continue, noted Shaw — but future visits may not be entirely centered around London.

“I think we’re going to continue with two a year, at a minimum. I think what we’re probably going to do in 2024 is move outside of London for one of the fights,” Shaw told Cageside Press following the fight. “I don’t think we’re going to have two fights per year in London, but you never know what Dana [White] wants to do, depending on who’s holding the belt and where people are ranked.”

There are a number of locations on the radar, Shaw went on to add. “I wouldn’t be surprised if— it’s been a while since we’ve been in Glasgow, it’s been a while since we’ve been in Manchester. We want to get back to Dublin [Ireland]. There’s a lot of places we want to go. Expect that to take on a slightly different complexion next year.”

Dublin, meanwhile, is at the top of the list, with a big anniversary coming up soon: next July will be a decade since Conor McGregor headlined Dublin against Diego Bradao, early in the Irish star’s rise up the featherweight ranks.

“It was pointed out earlier on by one of our key media guys that next July will mark 10 years since the Conor fight. Top of the list, for sure,” stated Shaw. “We want to get back, we want to get back at some point, just not sure when.”

Regardless of locale, however, there remains a hesitancy on the part of the UFC to move out of arenas and into larger stadiums. Despite the success of UFC 286 in March and this past Saturday’s card, which saw Tom Aspinall triumph over Marcin Tybura.

“I think generally, sticking to areas unless there’s some special circumstances. Stadiums are tough,” said Shaw, noting that the promotion has only held stadium shows a handful of times. “They’re tough, they’re big, they’re not the best viewing experience. But it’s fitting for when the stars align, you’ve got the right fights, the right moment in our calendar, and we can de-risk in terms of production costs, if there’s availability of some sort of local support, government support. It might make it a bit more manageable. But for us, the sweet sport is an arena with 15,000 people.”

Watch the full UFC London post-fight press conference with David Shaw above.

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“The O2 as a destination, but more importantly London as a destination, and certainly the UK could certainly support multiple events a year. Whether, out of 42 events a year, we can come to London twice? We’re still working on our schedule for 2023 and obviously Q4 for this year, but yeah two massive events here,” Shaw told Cageside Press among other media at his post-event scrum.

“Incredible fans. The cards were solid. This one was obviously a bit different than the last one, but it definitely had it’s moments. Listen, this is a home away from home, for us from Vegas.”

Arguably the biggest star on the card was UFC lightweight Paddy Pimblett who finished his fight via submission in the second round. Following the win Pimblett spoke on men’s mental health and dedicated his fight to a friend who had fallen to suicide just hours before weigh-ins.

“It seemed like the only thing people wanted to talk about tonight was Paddy. I was talking to fans, core partners, internally with our staff here, everyone’s talking about Paddy. He brings a completely different persona, very unique and independent personality that we just don’t see a lot of,” Shaw said.

“I was texting with (Craig) Borsari immediately after is speech and he was saying, ‘Really nice to see that side of him’. Specially after such a dramatic win.”

With English fighters from other parts of the country, with arenas to hold events, some wondered why the UFC returned to London rather than travel to other parts such as Manchester or Liverpool.

“I think the simple answer is Dana was here in March and he experienced how fervent and intense the crowd was and he wanted to be here. Don’t want to make this any more complicated. He was here, he loved it, he wanted to come back as soon as possible. It was just a matter of us being able to find a night open and available at The O2,” said Shaw.

With the country having plenty of fighters from there and even more fans Shaw spoke on the possibility of doing 4 events in the UK.

“Yeah, potentially. It’s a nice challenge to have. Trying to figure out how we divide our events around the world is a constant discussion between the group of us in at the office because we want to be able to service our fan base all around the world. We’ve got partnerships, we’ve got our offices in a variety of different places around the world. There are some destinations we are always going to get to. UK obviously, Brazil, Canada, Australia. I think some of the priority markets need to be nurtured because that’s where a significant section of our fan base is,” Shaw explained.

“As we’ve got more and more athletes that are kind of coming up the ranks and making a name for themselves, having a gate like this at The O2 four months after, five months after we held the last one, is pretty special.”

Watch the full UFC London post-fight press scrum with David Shaw above.

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Vancouver, B.C. — Vancouver had plenty of story lines coming out of it following a main card full of plot twists. Misha Cirkunov’s Peruvian necktie submission of Jimmy Crute. Tristan Connelly’s David vs. Goliath upset of Michel Pereira. And of course, Justin Gaethje’s finish of Cowboy Cerrone.

Cerrone (36-13, 1NC) held his head high after the loss to Gaethje, but he was initially irked at the stoppage. So was Gaethje, for his part. One felt it was too soon. The other faulted the ref for stepping in too late.

UFC Senior Vice President, International and Content David Shaw acknowledged the controversy following the event, with reporters including Cageside Press.

“Justin Seemed upset. Cowboy seemed upset,” he noted. The ref, in his opinion, “probably gave Cowboy, given his experience and expertise and how long he’s been fighting, a bit of benefit of the doubt. Probably could have been stopped a bunch earlier.”

“Sometimes you’ve got to give some guys to see if they recover or whatever else,” he continued, “but from my position it might have been a tad too late.”

In the end, Cowboy seemed no worse for the wear, and Gaethje will move on to bigger things. It won’t be much of a step back for Cerrone, either. His superstar status seems to transcend wins and losses. He also clearly has a strong connection to the Canadian crowd, which was staunchly pro-Cowboy at UFC Vancouver. Just as they were at UFC Ottawa back in May.

Perhaps Cerrone should be up there with Max Holloway in terms of the most popular stars in the country, even without being Canadian themselves.

“Absolutely,” agreed Shaw. “Two fights in Canada in six months. It’s awesome. Plus a couple others in previous years including that Matt Brown head kick in Toronto a few years ago.” Cowboy, suggested Shaw, “connects well, I think his sensibility connects well with Canadians. Every single highlight reel or montage we had with him was him on a jet ski, mountain biking, doing a whole bunch of extreme sports. I think that just connects well with a lot of people across the country as well. Yeah absolutely, he’s definitely in that camp.”

Watch the full UFC Vancouver (UFC Fight Night 158) with UFC exec David Shaw above.

The post UFC Vancouver: David Shaw Sees Cowboy in Same Camp as Holloway in Terms of Canadian Stardom appeared first on Cageside Press.

Vancouver, BC — As the UFC’s international footprint continues to expand, it remains committed to Canada, and a schedule that includes three events a year. That’s the message UFC Senior Vice President, International and Content David Shaw delivered Thursday, to kick off the UFC Vancouver media day.

With Cageside Press and other publications crowding around, Shaw fielded a barrage of questions, most commonly about where in Canada the promotion might visit next.

Montreal, of course, is a distinct possibility, frankly overdue for a visit. “Montreal’s on the radar every single year,” Shaw said Thursday. The struggle, said Shaw, is to find weekends where the NHL is not in play. “Love to get back to Montreal. It’s got nothing to do with the scuttlebutt recently of GSP vs. Khabib,” he added. “This is us every year, trying to get back at the right time of year.”

Shaw has long contended that the tendency of Canadians to head off for summer vacation complicates the situation, and he returned to that theme on Saturday. Vancouver, he suggested, was heading toward a sellout, however. The timing was right, perhaps – end of the summer, but prior to hockey season.

Toronto will likely be back on the calendar for 2020 as well. And “maybe we’re back in the Maritimes, Atlantic Canada.” Winnipeg was a name Shaw brought up as well. “Getting back to sort of central Canada, whether it’s Saskatchewan or Manitoba, we’re not sure yet.”

“We want to make sure we are delivering quality events across the country, and we’re going to continue to have three total events in Canada,” Shaw promised. That has been the case the past several years.

When it comes to choosing destinations, he said, you need the right arena, and the ability to draw from surrounding areas. Asked by Cageside Press if any new areas were being considered, Shaw revealed that there were, in fact, “a few,” although it was “probably a bit premature to talk about those publicly. We’ve tested out in Canada, since I guess we started in 2008 with events in Canada, a variety of different cities. And most have worked. Most if not all have worked.”

“Now, we’re probably at the point where we’re getting back to cities that we know we can work well with, that can draw from surrounding areas.” That said, “there definitely are three or four other cities that we’re considering, but nothing we can share publicly yet.”

As the number of international events grows, with China and Russia now in play, it would seem something will have to give — either one area gets fewer shows, or the overall number of shows increases. While Canada is getting the same number of events, the number of UFC cards will not increase in 2020.

“We would generally stay with the same number of shows overall,” said Shaw. “We’re going to head into 2020 with 42 events on the schedule, with 12 PPVs on the schedule. So the distribution would be pretty similar to what it is now.” In terms of overall shows, that’s the same number as 2019.

Watch the full press scrum with UFC Senior VP, International and Content David Shaw from the UFC Vancouver media day above!

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