Negotiations are underway to bring the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) back to Perth, with both the State Government and UFC eager to hold another event in Western Australia.
In pure economic terms, UFC 221, which was held at Perth Arena in February last year, was a success, and while the mixed martial arts event is viewed as controversial by some sections of the community, the crowd was mostly free of anti-social behaviour.
"I am urging Tourism WA to pursue another fight," Tourism Minister Paul Papalia revealed.
"The UFC event we had in the start of 2018 was the biggest gross return to the [Perth] Arena in its history.
"It had 30 per cent of all ticket holders come from outside the state and that is a great return."
Australian Robert Whittaker had been set to defend his middleweight title against American Luke Rockhold.
But after a series of injuries, Whittaker was forced to pull out and was replaced Yoel Romero, who ultimately defeated Rockhold by knockout, despite not making the weight.
Even after the setbacks in the lead-up, UFC senior vice-president international and content David Shaw, declared the event a major success.
"To see a capacity crowd at Perth Arena from the very first bout indicated to us a strong, knowledgeable fan base and demonstrated exactly why Perth is an important market to UFC," he told the ABC.
"We absolutely welcome the opportunity to return to Perth on a regular basis and are continuing conversations with Minister Papalia and his Tourism WA team to construct a meaningful and sustainable schedule of events."
According to Tourism Western Australia, UFC 221 was watched by more than 4.5 million people globally.
Tourism WA analysis of UFC 221
- Visitors attending the Perth bout spent more than $5.3 million
- About 30 per cent of ticket sales — or 3,702 tickets — were for patrons outside of WA
- Out-of-state visitors stayed a total of 12,000 nights and spent an average $444 per day
- More than 6,800 domestic peripheral media reports and posts mentioned the Perth event
It was the first time such an event was held in Perth, after the WA Labor Government decided to allow the use of the octagon fight enclosures — often referred to as cages — in 2017.
There are about 40,000 registered UFC fans in WA, according to the State Government.
Next month, Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena will host UFC 234, which will be headlined by Whittaker's middleweight fight against Kelvin Gastelum.
