A closer look at the UFC’s 2017 schedule

When WME-IMG purchased the UFC last year, rumors swirled that they would cut back on the number of events the promotion put on in 2017.

However, according to multiple sources, that isn’t the case. While early schedules are very much subject to change, MMA Fighting has confirmed the promotion’s current plan for this year. Here’s how it looks at the moment:

• 13 pay-per-views (11 in United States, 1 in Canada, 1 in Brazil).
• Four “big” Fox shows.
• 16 FS1 “Fight Night” events.
• Two TUF Finales.
• Six Fight Pass cards.
• Events by region: United States (23), Canada (3), Latin America (2), Brazil (3), Asia (3), Australia (2), Europe/Middle East/Africa (5).
• 41 Total events.

For the record, the UFC also held 41 events in both 2016 and 2015. In 2014, they held 46 events.

Some other notes of interest:

• UFC on FOX 24 is currently scheduled to take place at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, MO on April 15, which would mark the promotion’s debut in Kansas City. That was first reported by CagePages.com.
• UFC 212 is currently scheduled to take place June 3 in Brazil.
• UFC is once again planning on holding three-straight events during International Fight Week in Las Vegas: July 6 on Fight Pass, July 7 on FS1 (TUF Finale) and July 8 would be UFC 213 on pay-per-view.
• The promotion is currently targeting Canada for UFC 216 on Sept. 9.
• The year-end show, UFC 220, is currently scheduled for Dec. 30 in Las Vegas.

Many of the cities and venues have yet to be finalized as of now. Again, worth repeating, a lot can change over the course of the year, but this is the UFC’s current plan.

In short, as far as events go, it’s business as usual.

On the non-event front, the UFC recently informed its entire roster that come May they would be hosting them in Las Vegas for a two-day “Athlete Retreat.”

“We’ll be partnering with WME-IMG to create programming addressing a wide variety of topics across sports and entertainment,” the memo stated. The retreat will be held at the company’s new Performance Institute in Las Vegas, which is set to open in May.