Every year, the UFC is looking to expand its reach and travel to many new countries where they never held an event. After Saudi Arabia, it seems like Dana White and Co. may have plans for Europe. During the UFC 308 press conference, a Spanish reporter asked White if he had plans to come to Spain, and guess what? The UFC CEO gave the green light.

Given that the UFC has a Spanish champion, Ilia Topuria, who loves Real Madrid, one of the two biggest soccer clubs in Spain, the reporter asked if the Destination was Los Blancos’s home ground, Santiago Bernabéu. At first, it seemed like Dana White agreed to it, but he would later reveal that he was finding it hard to understand what the Spanish journalist was saying.

The 55-year-old would say, “Sure! I have no idea what you’re saying, sir… Is Pete [Dropick] in here?” When Dana White called Peter Dropick, Executive Vice President of Event Development & Operations at TKO to get some insights about the plans for Spain, Max Holloway would take a dig at Ilia Topuria by mentioning that Barcelona is the venue of choice for UFC’s Spanish debut. For the unversed, Real Madrid is Barcelona’s arch-nemesis and has had a legendary rivalry dating back to the 1900s.

“We’re going Barcelona, boys!”, ‘Blessed’ claimed. However, an angered Topuria would clap back at ‘Blessed’ with a warning as he was opposed to the proposition because he is a diehard Madrid fan. “Don’t tell me Barcelona. I’m gonna point to the ground right now,” ‘El Matador’ stated.

Dana White would later say that coming to Spain is definitely on the books, but the host of the event could be either of the two cities. It’s still not a done deal. “We’re talking to Madrid and Barcelona. That’s who we’re talking to,” the UFC CEO added. Hearing that Barcelona was also among the options, Ilia Topuria seemed a little disappointed, but White would cheer him up with a fist bump thereafter. However, there were earlier reports that the promotion was indeed seeking a date for an event at the Bernabéu.

Previous reports claim Santiago Bernabeu was the sought-after destination for the maiden UFC event

Following Ilia Topuria’s UFC 298 title win, Dana White was asked about the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium first at that moment. Guess what? Dana White claimed that he ‘likes’ the arena and proceeded to ask how many people it can seat. When learning that the ground holds about 80,000, but in reality, the UFC might consider hosting half of that capacity for certain events, like Fight Nights.

Nevertheless, The UFC CEO assured the Spanish that if they find a suitable venue, a stadium, or an arena, they will host their first event there in Spain. “If there’s an arena available, we’ll bring UFC to Spain,” Dana White stated. Hence, the recent comments during the pre-fight presser could mean that the UFC is still in the hunt for a venue in Spain as we wait to see if it’s Ilia Topuria can still keep his belt after this Saturday night.

Which venue do you think will be great for UFC’s first Spanish event? Drop your comments below.