UFC CEO Dana White knows for a fact that in order to make UFC a household name all around the world, he will have to make sure that top-notch fighters from all around the world fight under the promotion. To that end, Dana White is building UFC Performance Institutes all around the world. The promotion has three PIs now but it appears that the UFC CEO is planning to make a fourth in Africa as well.

Africa has been one of the most pivotal regions for the promotion considering the fact that many of the revenue-generating champions come from the African continent. Interestingly, the UFC CEO, who was bearish on African fighters appears to have changed his mind and is looking at a potential investment opportunity for a PI in Africa.

Dana White reveals his plans for the 4th Performance Institute

Dana White inaugurated the first Performance Institute back in the United States in May 2017. It was one of the very first institutes for the world of MMA. It can be regarded as a center of excellence for innovation, research, and training. It must be noted that as many as 400 athletes from all sports have visited and trained at the Vegas-based center.

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The UFC CEO said, “I’ve been saying this. I said, ‘Wait till we build a PI in Africa.’ I said it to the guys at the table tonight. ‘Wait till we build a PI in Africa, and some of these guys start coming in from, you know, at a young age and learning everything. It’s going to be—it’s like just like Mexico. Wait, wait until five, six, seven years. Mexico, same thing’s going to happen. And who knows? With Africa, it could be even crazier.”

A performance institute is a significant development in the world of MMA right now. You might be wondering why. Well, let me give you a simple tour of what a PI includes. First and foremost, most of the PIs cover an area spanning from 20000 sqft to 35000 sqft, In addition to that, each of the Performance Institutes has its own nutrition specialist, who makes tailor-made diets for the athletes.

The institute is filled with state-of-the-art gym equipment for strength training, conditioning, sparring, you name it. The facility even consists of an underwater treadmill that helps the fighters work on their cardio, and last but not least, it houses a cryotherapy chamber. For those who do not want to believe him, Dana White is actually serious about going to Africa. Let’s find out why.

The UFC CEO might be bullish on Africa

Dricus Du Plessis opened the doors for the up-and-coming South African fighters to get into the promotion when he clinched the UFC middleweight belt. The South African native is trying his best to make sure that the UFC CEO understands the market that he has in Africa and it appears that ‘StillKnocks’ has succeeded in it. Why, are we saying this? Well, it’s because of the fact that UFC might end up in Africa sooner than in Ilia Topuria‘s Spain.

After clinching the featherweight belt, Topuria emphasized that he wants to defend it at the Santiago Bernabéu in Spain but it appears that the busy schedule of the venue has forced Dana White to look at Africa. While having a discussion with the media, the UFC CEO said, “And what was the other — you know, I wanna go to Africa. We’re still working on an Africa fight; not just South Africa, but Africa. You know, ’cause everybody will make the argument, ‘If you go to South Africa, that’s not really Africa.’ That’s Africa to me. But we’ll still look to go to other parts of Africa. It’s important to me.”

With White taking his operations truly global, Africa will not be the last region getting a performance institute. However, it surely will be the frontrunner for the next one. The talent pool in the region is simply too big to ignore. Ideally, the promotion should have gone there during the era of the three kings (Israel Adesanya, Kamaru Usman, and Francis Ngannou). Nevertheless, the promotion can still make an impact there given its popularity in recent times.

Dana White is pretty bullish on the African continent but will the UFC witness an African crowd soon? State your thoughts in the comments below.