There was a time when the UFC was a little hard-pressed for venues across the United States, predominantly due to new regulations being needed to license and permit the sport of mixed martial arts. In early 2009, the call came from Pennsylvania that mixed martial events were now on the table thanks to new safety regulations being in place. On 8 August 2009, the UFC put on its first event in the Keystone State, and it was a big one.
Hosted by Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, a hefty 17,411 people came to watch – the fourth-highest recorded attendance to that date, only behind UFC 97 and UFC 83 in Montréal, Québec, as well as UFC 68 in Columbus, Ohio – creating a raucous atmosphere for a card headlined by B.J. Penn versus Kenny Florian with legend Anderson Silva also on the main card.
The UFC continued to venture back to Pennsylvania, frequenting the great venues of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, but since the company has expanded more and more globally, Pennsylvania has more or less been overlooked. Given what’s on offer in Pennsylvania now, the fighters who have come from the state, the thrilling MMA events of the past, and the stadiums on offer, perhaps it’s time to get the Keystone State back on the UFC slate.
Pennsylvania is a huge sporting state with major league teams in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia across the biggest sports in North America. This has created superb indoor hubs for sport. There’s the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, home to the Flyers and 76ers, as well as Pittsburgh’s own PPG Paints Arena, which plays host to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Both are modern enough, opening in 1996 and 2010, and seat over 18,000 for ice hockey. On top of these excellent venues for an event such as a UFC card, there’s also the new state of play for gambling in Pennsylvania.
You can see across sports that gambling sponsors, mostly sportsbook but regularly also their associated online casinos, pump in a lot of cash and gambling itself is often seen as synonymous with sports. Seeing Pennsylvania as such a key sports market, online gambling firms have become very competitive, even offering free bonuses in the form of no-deposit bonuses. Just check out these guys to see how competitive it’s become, with major brands offering as much as $25 free playing cash at their online casinos.
It’s a big draw for many sports fans and sports organizations that many tap into. Were the UFC to return to Pennsylvania, there isn’t any doubt that they’d do so in collaboration with an entrenched online casino or sportsbook in the state. Further promoting the Keystone State for MMA promotions specifically is the collection of top-class athletes who call it home. Phil Davis remains a big name in the sport, having competed in the UFC and Bellator, becoming the light heavyweight world champion in the latter.
As well as Davis, who hails from Harrisburg, Brian Stann certainly won the affection of fight fans during his run. In the UFC, the Tokyo-born, Scranton-raised U.S. Marine earned acclaim for his sheer class. Against Alessio Sakara in 2012, he called over the referee once his opponent was knocked out rather than, as many fighters would, continuing to pound until the referee had called the fight. Eddie ‘The Underground King’ Alvarez is one of Philadelphia’s finest fighting exports, finishing with a 30-8-2 record after winning the UFC and Bellator lightweight titles.
Even now, there are great Pennsylvania natives plying their trade in the UFC. Quakertown’s Katlyn Cerminara has certainly earned a strong legacy already. She holds the records for the most decision wins in UFC women’s history at 11 and the most in the flyweight division at 14, and even after two consecutive losses, she looks primed to fight again. Then, there’s the rising star Sean Brady.
After becoming the Cage Fury FC welterweight champion and defending his strap in February 2019, the UFC snapped up Brady. Since then, he’s gone 6-1 in the UFC (16-1 overall), getting back on track in December last year against Kelvin Gastelum via a particularly grizzly kimura. It marked his return after Brady’s first career loss in October 2022, which came at the hands of Belal Muhammad – the UFC 304 headliner taking on champion Leon Edwards.
It all began with UFC 101: Declaration in August 2009 in Philadelphia. Lightweight champion B.J. Penn was tasked with defending his belt for the second time, and successfully did so by ousting Kenny Florian via a rear-naked choke. Perhaps the most memorable performance of the night, however, came from one of the UFC’s most beloved legends. Anderson Silva entered angry, with the crowd having given Forrest Griffin a rapturous reception. Just three minutes and 23 seconds later, Silva had finished the job with a short right while walking backwards. It stands as one of the legend’s best-ever finishes under the UFC banner.
UFC 101 certainly set a high bar, and while it wasn’t the massive clash originally scheduled, UFC Live: Kongo vs. Barry certainly proved to be a thriller. By just about every measure, Cheick Kongo was done for with some 2:50 left of the first round. He was gone again 15 seconds later. He stood up by 2:25, threw a short right shovel, and sent Pat Barry to the mat, completely reversing the fight to get the win. That June 2011 fight in Pittsburgh paved the way for a return to the state in August of that year, but this time, to the Wells Fargo Center in Philly.
Set to headline with Jon Jones defending his new lightweight title against Rashad Evans, ‘Bones’ couldn’t make the date due to injury. Phil Davis stepped up but was also injured in training. So, the main event ended up being Evans against the man everyone loved to hate, Tito Ortiz. Evans showcased a whole new, complete fighter side of him to dazzle the crowd, while Ortiz earned a lot of credit for stepping in at such short notice. As the UFC was expanding, it took a while to return to Pennsylvania, but in February 2016, Pittsburgh staged UFC Fight Night: Cowboy vs. Cowboy.
With 14 knockouts and 18 submissions between them, Cowboy versus Cowboy, which was a bout between Donald Cerrone and Alex Oliveira, always promised fireworks. However, many in Pittsburgh that night may not have expected Round 1 to only reach 2:33 on the clock. Cerrone and Oliveira traded well early, but then went to a clinch on the fence, fell to the ground, and then Cerrone masterfully wrapped his opponent up in a triangle choke. The following year, the PPG Paints Arena put on its first UFC event with UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs. Branch in September 2017.
The fight was headlined by Luke Rockhold putting on an increasingly impressive showing as the fight progressed, evading the early attempts from David Brach to clear him out with strikes to the head, eventually battling him to the ground with a body lock. That was then turned into a mount and a barrage of strikes to end the night. Also on the card was a young Kamaru Usman. Partaking in his fifth UFC card, the future absurdly dominant welterweight champion scored his first knockout win. This came at the expense of Sérgio Moraes in the first round.
To date, the very last time the UFC came to Pennsylvania was on 30 March, 2019. UFC on ESPN: Barboza vs. Gaethje ended in explosive fashion. Edson Barboza entered as the bookies’ favorite, and both were coming in having just snapped losing streaks. However, Gaethje’s propensity for a sudden switch in fortunes was already well known by this point. Barboza probably got the better of the early exchanges in Round 1, but a pivot away from the fence went awry when Gaethje tracked him around, caught him with a right hook, and knocked him out cold.
The UFC has been absent from the Keystone State for over five years now. The collection of six UFC nights in Pennsylvania ranks the state as a whole behind individual cities like Anaheim (10), Atlantic City (10), Newark (9), Houston (9), and Denver (7). For now, we know that the UFC won’t be coming back before November 2024. The scheduled events through to 26 October see the UFC going to Newark, Louisville, Denver, and, of course, Las Vegas.
Showcasing how difficult it is to get a UFC spot these days, the US dates have plenty of international separators in place. In June, the UFC heads to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, followed by a romp in the UK for UFC 304 in July. After that, the next UFC date is in the UAE, and that’s followed by another road trip – this time to Perth in Australia for UFC 305. The end of September and October see the promotion go to Paris for UFC Fight Night 245 and UFC 308 taking place in Abu Dhabi.
It’s increasingly difficult to get a UFC event now that’s become a globe-trotting headliner for mixed martial arts. Still, most fight nights are held in the US, and while Las Vegas gets the glut of the schedule, there is a good chance that the sports-loving Pennsylvania will welcome back the UFC in the coming years.