Dana White Wants to Make Noche UFC Events an Annual Tradition

While its main event ended in controversy, the Noche UFC concept was an overall success.

The UFC Fight Night 227 event took place on Mexican Independence Day this past Saturday and was designed to celebrate athletes from the promotion with Mexican heritage. That includes flyweight champion Alexa Grasso, who retained her title after battling Valentina Shevchenko to a split draw in the evening’s headliner.

UFC CEO Dana White wasn’t in attendance for the card, but he raved about the numbers the show did on ESPN+ during the post-fight press conference for the Contender Series on Tuesday. He also announced plans to make UFC events on Mexican Independence Day an annual tradition, which would follow in the footsteps of what boxing has done over the years.

“I don’t care if somebody here in town gets the date at the arena, I’ll go in an opposing arena and go head-to-head with them next year,” White said. “I’m doing this for the rest of my reign here.

“They can go on the same night, we can go head-to-head. I’m going. The thing was a massive success for us. This is something that I’ve been thinking about since the day we bought this company. So, we’re finally in the position. I’m all in. All my chips are in on Mexico. We’re opening the P.I., which we’ve spent millions and millions of dollars on. … We did it, it was huge, and we’ll do it again every year.”

During the UFC Fight Night 227 broadcast, it was announced that the promotion is targeting a return to Mexico in 2024. However, a date for that card was not confirmed. The UFC hasn’t been South of the Border since a card headlined by Yair Rodriguez and Jeremy Stephens in September 2019.