The UFC is set to return to Perth on September 27th for UFC Fight Night, following the success of UFC 305 on August 18, 2024, UFC 284 in February 2023, and UFC 221 in February 2018. This comeback is part of a multi-year partnership with the Western Australian Government and will feature a high-stakes light heavyweight showdown between Carlos Ulberg and Dominick Reyes. However, in the lead-up to the UFC Fight Night event, No. 6 lightweight contender Dan Hooker has raised a concern about the overseas events.

The Auckland native, who’s currently recovering from a hand injury, recently appeared on Sky Sports New Zealand. While there, he discussed a recurring issue with UFC’s event planning, highlighting how Dana White is compelled to stage fights in the United States, sidelining over 46.65 million fans in Oceania. Dan Hooker voiced frustration about rarely getting a chance to fight on home turf and also about fellow fighters complaining about traveling to Australia, whereas he and other fighters from Australia and New Zealand regularly fly to the U.S. for most of their bouts.

“It’s harder to get the bigger name guys for sure,” Hooker admitted to Ravinder Hunia of Sky Sports New Zealand when asked about the difficulty of drawing opponents to the Oceania region for a fight. “Just with the travel, like they don’t like doing what we have to do every like…” Hooker pointed out that most fighters “moan” about the inconvenience of traveling overseas, especially when it comes to adjusting to a new environment.

“If you do bring them down, they’re just… going, ‘Oh, travel. I had to come out early, I had to bring this, I had to do all this, I had to change my sleep schedule,’” Hooker explained. In contrast, fighters like Hooker, Alexander Volkanovski, Israel Adesanya, and Jack Della Maddalena are used to making the long trips for nearly every bout. JDM, a Perth native, recently fought Belal Muhammad in Canada, while Volkanovski traveled to Miami, Florida, for his April fight against Diego Lopes.

Similarly, Adesanya, who lives in Auckland, New Zealand, had his last fight in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Though he did fight his last fight against Mateusz Gamrot at UFC 305 in Perth, Dan Hooker emphasized, “I have to [travel for] every single fight.” While he occasionally gets the opportunity to compete at home, it’s rare. “Otherwise, we’re traveling to the other side of the world. I’ve fought in London. I fought in Tokyo. I fought in New York. Many times in Las Vegas. It’s just part and parcel of being from this side of the world.” 

However, the UFC has more overseas fights planned since then, like in Dubai, France, and beyond. To add to the good news, the UFC seems to have taken an initiative to increase international events.

TKO Group CFO talks about more UFC events overseas

According to a report from The Mac Life in February 2025, TKO Group Holdings CFO Andrew Schleimer has confirmed that UFC fans can expect more international events in 2025, signaling a shift away from the promotion’s usual hub in Las Vegas. During an investor call, Schleimer said, “In 2025, we expect to hold fewer events at Apex in Las Vegas,” referencing the UFC’s in-house venue that has hosted numerous fight cards since the COVID-19 pandemic.

“While the calendar for the full year isn’t finalized, we expect to host a higher number of international events as compared to 2024,” he added. Even though these events are projected to result in “increased revenue,” Schleimer claimed that they come with “a lower margin profile as compared to Apex events.” This was surprising because UFC has mostly relied on the cost-efficient Apex facility for a while now. 

It appears Dan Hooker will be happier with UFC’s move to increase its international events. However, this only means fighters in the US will hate travelling even more, as Hooker highlighted. Would you like to see more international events? Or keeping the events confined to the US is better?