Months After Francis Ngannou Became the Chairman of PFL Africa, UFC Executive Reveals Their Expansion Plan on the Second Largest Continent: ?We?re Making Progress?

Francis Ngannou shocked the MMA world after signing a multi-million-dollar deal with the PFL after leaving the UFC. Moreover, he also became the Chairman for the PFL’s expansion in Africa. ‘The Predator’ was over the moon after his dream of providing a platform for his home continent came true after associating with the PFL. He mentioned that PFL Africa was the best part of his deal with the promotion.? Now it seems that rival promotion UFC is following in their footsteps and has taken a leaf out of PFL’s books.

Recently, a UFC executive shed some light on their plans for expansion into other continents, including Africa. Meanwhile, UFC’s Senior Vice President of International and Content, David Shaw, gave his take on what Dana White‘s promotion is planning to expand into other parts of the world.

The UFC is still working on its expansion plans

The UFC planned for a global expansion before the Covid-19 pandemic shook the world in 2020. In the UFC London’s post-fight press conference, David Shaw was hit with the question regarding their plans for expansion, especially in Africa. He said, “I feel like we’re making progress. We don’t have anything definitive to report.” He mentioned that the UFC brass is currently having talks regarding the suitable countries where they see the vision for expansion. Shaw added, “We’ve been having a number of conversations around what it’s going to take [and] what country to go to.”

Furthermore, Shaw mentioned how Dana White and COO Lawrence Epstein have discussed global expansion plans in several interviews. He claimed that the expansion plans have taken center stage during their discussions behind the scenes. Shaw said, “If you’ve been listening to Dana’s interviews and Lawrence’s interviews over the past four, five months, like, it’s starting to gain a bit of momentum.”

The UFC’s expansion depends on infrastructure

The expansion plans have become a top priority for the UFC in recent years, and they want to explore places that they have not visited yet. They also have a shortlist of countries, including South Africa, Rwanda, Senegal, and Cameroon. However, their plans depend on these countries’ infrastructure. David Shaw said, “First of all, you’ve got to look at things like where does the infrastructure exist. Where’s the suitable venue?”

He further added that rugby and soccer stadiums are not considerable options for the promotion. Instead, they are looking to host events in indoor venues. “We’re not going to a big rugby pitch that’s outdoors [and] we’re not going to go to big soccer stadiums. It is going to be an indoor venue,” said the Senior Vice President of International and Content.

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Meanwhile, although the PFL has planned its expansion with Francis Ngannou’s involvement, it will not happen until 2024. It will be interesting to see if the UFC uses all its resources to edge past the PFL and become the first promotion to expand into Africa and possibly other continents like Asia, where MMA has gained a lot of traction over the years.

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