Tourism WA's new multi-year deal with UFC to bring two major ...

The Western Australian Government, through Tourism Western Australia, has announced a new multi-year partnership with the UFC that will bring two major events to Perth starting this year.

The deal will kick off with UFC 305 to take place at Perth’s RAC Arena on Sunday, 18 August, which will mark the third time the city has hosted a pay-per-view event for the mixed martial arts promotion.

The last Perth-hosted PPV event was the record-breaking UFC 284 and was headlined by Australia’s own Alexander Volkanovski who fought Islam Makhachev in February 2023.

UFC 284 broke RAC Arena records for revenue and sporting event attendance and broke the national arena record for the highest-grossing ticket sales of any event, however this was later surpassed by UFC 293, which took place at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena in September last year.

According to the UFC, the Volkanovski card in February 2023 delivered an estimated $42.8 million of total economic and flow-on benefits with more than 9,000 international or interstate visitors making the trip to Perth for the major event.

“Perth, I am so excited to be coming back!” UFC CEO, Dana White, said.

“After a record-breaking event in 2023, I can’t wait to bring another massive pay-per-view to Western Australia.  Perth is a world-class city with some of the most passionate fight fans I’ve ever seen – UFC 305 is going to be INCREDIBLE!”

Deputy Premier and Tourism Minister, Rita Saffioti, added: “We are very excited to once again be hosting UFC at RAC Arena, and we expect UFC 305 to be another major success for WA’s tourism and hospitality industry.

“We know that sporting fans love to come to Perth to witness a high-stakes sporting event in one of our world-class sporting venues, and the weekend of 17-18 August will be a knockout with UFC 305 at RAC Arena and the Wallabies vs Springboks at Optus Stadium.”

The second event to take place in WA is a UFC Fight Night event, with a date yet to be announced.

“We are absolutely thrilled to be heading back to Perth for two exciting UFC events over the next few years,” Peter Kloczko, UFC Vice President Australia and New Zealand said.

“UFC in this region goes from strength to strength; from our amazing roster of talent to record-breaking events across the country, it’s only getting better.

“I want to thank the WA Government and Tourism Western Australia for their continued support for UFC, MMA, and making UFC 305 in Perth possible.”