Abu Dhabi: The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) plans to hold its next event in Afghanistan.
“We are trying to setup a fight in Afghanistan in about two months,” UFC President Dana White told members of the press at a roundtable discussion Thursday.
The event will be a free show in support of the US troops in Afghanistan, “We don’t like war, on one does; we just want them to come home safe, but these decisions are not in our hands,” explains White.
“The UFC has always supported our men and women in the military, not just American we’ve also supported troops in Canada and other countries.”
“There are tons of security concerns in Afghanistan, it’s going to be crazy and scary, we’ll see how many media will show up. But I’ll tell you what; all our fighters will jump at the chance to go there.”
“I’m very nervous and excited about going there; we are working with the military to set everything up. We don’t even know if we can film it, let alone air the event.”
He added that this show will be on land, but that they don’t know just how the venue will be set up, “we won’t be setting up an arena that’s for sure".
They also have plans to do a show on an aircraft carrier in the near future.
When asked why Afghanistan and not Iraq, White said that it was the military who chose Afghanistan.
The UFC are set to have their breakout Middle East event this Saturday at Abu Dhabi, it is one of the best fight cards of the year with two title fights taking place.
“I always believed in this company I just didn’t think it would grow this big this fast,” says White.
“If you had told me a few months ago that the UFC would have a show in Afghanistan before New York, I would have said that you were crazy.”
