Dana White confirms UFC set for UK return and France debut in 2022

UFC president Dana White has confirmed that the promotion plans on returning to the United Kingdom this year – in addition to putting on an event in France for the first time.

This past Saturday night, Dana White was in attendance at the O2 Arena as the UFC put on an electric event in London. It marked the first time in three years that they’d been back in the capital and they certainly made up for the lost time.

Tom Aspinall, Paddy Pimblett, Molly McCann and more made a huge statement in front of a raucous crowd of over 17,000 in North Greenwich.

Unsurprisingly, White seemed to be in a pretty good mood throughout the evening, and he maintained that energy in his post-fight press conference.

During his chat with the media, White’s positive energy was flowing as he announced plans for the UFC to return to Europe at least twice before the end of 2022.

“I can tell you this – we will definitely do France this year. We’ll definitely do France, and I will definitely come back here again. This worked out, this was fun for us to come here and do this event.”

“I’m very happy in every sense of the word with this event and I’m gonna come back as soon as possible.”

For many years France, as a nation, didn’t recognise mixed martial arts as a sport on the professional level.

However, in January 2020, Roxana Maracineanu revealed that the country would be changing this legislation and allowing organisations to put together events over there. As if it wasn’t clear enough already, Dana White wants to ensure the UFC helps breed the next generation of French talent.

With Ciryl Gane sitting cageside over the weekend it wouldn’t be at all surprising if the idea of him headlining in Paris was discussed.

As for the second UK event it’s not yet