UFC Exec Discloses UFC Spain Event Timeline for Absolute ‘Real Star’ and Double Champ Ilia Topuria

UFC executive gives projected timeline to break ground in Spain, with two-weight champ and superstar Ilia Topuria on tap for a PPV lineup.

UFC Exec Discloses UFC Spain Event Timeline for Absolute ‘Real Star’ and Double Champ Ilia Topuria

UFC Exec gives realistic timeline for Ilia Topuria starring UFC Spain (Source: X)

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The UFC has not yet hosted a PPV live event or even a Fight Night event in Spain. But as Ilia Topuria continues to rise in the MMA rankings, the organization is making efforts to enter the country. After UFC 317, consensus talks of UFC Spain are ramping up again.

Ilia Topuria has now added back-to-back-to-back knockout wins in PPV title affairs, after having a stellar 2024 title campaign. This time, he knocked out veteran lightweight Charles Olveira in just one round! At a stout stat of 17-0 MMA, “El Matador” represents the pinnacle of the sport and has long called for the Octagon to travel to his new home.

Now that he has made easy work to capture the UFC 155-pound gold, pundits and analysts are racking up intuitive arguments why Topuria is the next breakthrough case. Many are also putting forth that he deserves the push from UFC execs for more glory, as he carries it well.

Given all that, UFC Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Marc Ratner agrees the fighter has rightly stepped into the limelight and deserves his PPV headlining spot in Spain.

Two or three years ago you never heard of Topuria, …nobody knew much about him: Now he’s a real star! It’s, it’s….[Because of him] That’s the goal to go to Spain in the next year or so, …In an arena. I don’t know if they have the right arenas there yet.

UFC Exec Marc Ratner via MMA Junkie Radio with “Gorgeous” George and “Goze”

Now that the Georgian-Spanish star is the 10th two-weight UFC champion, the first with undefeated stats, and #1 pound-for-pound rankings, the scope of UFC Spain is at the forefront again. CEO Dana White had already acclimated to the idea that with Spanish staple Ilia Topuria being champ before his UFC 308 PPV top spot, the promotion ought to travel there.

There are prime hold-ups to UFC breaking bread with a Spain PPV lineup; namely, the spot! Fight rep, Lukasz Orzel, had said that El Clásico rival FC Barcelona wrote letters that Ilia Topuria’s title fight would majorly block out their 80,000+ seater the Santiago Bernabeu grounds.

After KOs of Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway, CEO Dana White also confirmed that Santiago Bernabeu wasn’t the ideal choice. First, it blocks out most of the stock arena for their niche product, Real Madrid FC y FC Barcelona’s ‘El Clásico’. Second, it’s an open arena! UFC litigation and media crew have only arranged for arenas that can close out the roof and guarantee weather-proof fan experiences.

Spain is likely to be confirmed as a new market before the end of 2026, according to Ratner, an instrumental head in the company’s grind and growth internationally. However, per the UFC executive, they are deciding on a new ‘closed’ arena to do it in.

Could winding down on a relentless annual PPV offering open up global shows, say UFC Spain and all?

For more than a decade, the UFC has run an annual circuit of 41-43 shows per year with Fight Night simulcasts and PPV offerings. For die-hard enthusiasts, it’s a dream come true. They get to see fiery action and highlights from Ilia Topuria, Tom Aspinall, Alex Pereira, and others. But for some industry insiders, they get that there are drawbacks.

UFC commentator empathetically sees upsides to lighter event listing, leading to globe shows like UFC Spain
UFC commentator empathetically sees upsides to lighter event listing, leading to globe shows like UFC Spain (Source: X)

Lead UFC PPV play-by-play commentator Jon Anik gets that. The endless PPV grind is a long one, and with the champ stock changing/increasing, UFC brass has to give out some USPs rather than the same-old, same-old. White and Co. often display new grind on UFC Fight Pass and have now come up with UFC BJJ as well, along with their own belt and competition grading.

White already threw out some international boxing bouts on Rogers Sportsnet in Canada, ESPN Latam (BZ), Australia, and New Zealand on ESPN. TKO and UFC, under Saudi GEA didactics, are also forming their own boxing league.

With the premier promotion dealing with their anti-competitive conduct settlement, TKO Group Holdings suffered a 2024 Q1 net loss of around $249.5 million to close the leaks. Hence, twice in a row, TKO Chief Financial Officer Andrew Schleimer said thematic PPV offerings are one-and-done.

This comes despite UFC 306 at ‘The Sphere’ making a $21,829,245 output in live gate! The promotion favors road shows and house fight nights. But thematic instruments (sometimes it’s the Colosseum between tech oligarchs, other times it’s the White House) do keep coming!

Keeping the UFC organism alive amid all these considerations, Anik reflected on the possible benefits of reducing the relentless pace of events.

I certainly think that if somehow there were a world in which we weren’t serving a million masters…and we could shave the schedule down from, say, 40 live events to 30 and add that depth to the fight cards, I think that would be something that would be of value, …I do think we ask a lot of our fans for seven, eight hours a night, 41 Saturday nights a year, so I think making the live events a little bit more ingestible [is good].

Jon Anik said during 2025 UFC Hall of Fame red carpet

Anik gets the lineup of 600+ athletes who need contractual obligations seen to. Anik gets that thematic representation with Ilia Topuria in Spain, and Dricus Du Plessis in a UFC South Africa PPV headliner is what drives the product. He knows every small parcel of it matters. But he thinks perhaps quality over quantity would actually even enhance quality moving forward.

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