The UFC is making tentative plans to return to Ireland.
The promotion, which previously held events in Ireland and Northern Ireland, is likely to return to the Emerald Isle, perhaps sometime around St. Patrick's Day, according to UFC UK President Marshall Zelaznik.
"We are targeting Dublin for 2011 and working toward March, but St. Patty's Day may not fit perfectly for us," Zelaznik wrote in an email to MMA Fighting. "But hope is we will be there in '11."
Last month, Zelaznik told MMA Fighting's Ariel Helwani that the company was holding four dates in the first quarter of the year for Dublin, and though a date still seems to be undecided upon, according to Zelaznik, the UFC has settled on Dublin's 02 Arena as the stage for the event.
A return would come about two years since the UFC last visited. UFC 93 took place at the aforementioned 02 Arena in Dublin in Jan. 2009, while UFC 72 emanated from Belfast, Northern Ireland in June 2007.
Before that happens, however, the UFC will return to the neighboring UK with UFC 120, which will take place at the 02 Arena in London and features a main event of Michael Bisping vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama.
In addition, a November event in Oberhausen, Germany is rumored, though the company has yet to officially announce it. Other European options are also being considered for the November date, though Germany clearly remains the company's top choice.
The promotion, which previously held events in Ireland and Northern Ireland, is likely to return to the Emerald Isle, perhaps sometime around St. Patrick's Day, according to UFC UK President Marshall Zelaznik.
"We are targeting Dublin for 2011 and working toward March, but St. Patty's Day may not fit perfectly for us," Zelaznik wrote in an email to MMA Fighting. "But hope is we will be there in '11."
Last month, Zelaznik told MMA Fighting's Ariel Helwani that the company was holding four dates in the first quarter of the year for Dublin, and though a date still seems to be undecided upon, according to Zelaznik, the UFC has settled on Dublin's 02 Arena as the stage for the event.
A return would come about two years since the UFC last visited. UFC 93 took place at the aforementioned 02 Arena in Dublin in Jan. 2009, while UFC 72 emanated from Belfast, Northern Ireland in June 2007.
Before that happens, however, the UFC will return to the neighboring UK with UFC 120, which will take place at the 02 Arena in London and features a main event of Michael Bisping vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama.
In addition, a November event in Oberhausen, Germany is rumored, though the company has yet to officially announce it. Other European options are also being considered for the November date, though Germany clearly remains the company's top choice.