The UFC has set dates for three international cards in August, September and November, sources told MMA Fighting.
On Aug. 10, the company will make its first trip to Uruguay with a Fight Night event in Montevideo. That will mark the third UFC card in a South American country — outside of Brazil — following 2018 events in Chile, headlined by Kamaru Usman vs. Demian Maia, and an Argentina show featuring Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Neil Magny.
The UFC has selected the Sept. 7 date for a pay-per-view event, sources said. The current plan, according to lightweight king Khabib Nurmagomedov, is to have that show take place in Abu Dhabi. If all goes right, Nurmagomedov would unify the 155-pound belt against interim champion Dustin Poirier on that date.
The Octagon has arrived twice before in Abu Dhabi. The first with a pay-per-view card, with UFC 112 taking place in April 2010 with Anderson Silva and B.J. Penn putting their titles on the line against Demian Maia and Frankie Edgar, respectively. Four years later, a Fight Night card was headlined by Roy Nelson vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
With a pay-per-view event scheduled for May 11 in Rio de Janeiro, the UFC will make its final 2019 trip to Brazil on Nov. 16, in Sao Paulo. The Ibirapuera Gymnasium held UFC Fight Nights events every year since 2013, and could feature the retirement bout of former featherweight champion Jose Aldo.