Hawaii has long been a hotbed for MMA with legends like B.J. Penn and Max Holloway representing the state while becoming champions in the UFC but the promotion has never actually held an event in the Aloha state.
That might finally change in the next few years.
UFC CEO Dana White was asked about a destination where he would love to take a fight card while appearing on The Rich Eisen Show and it didn’t take him long to acknowledge Hawaii as the most popular choice.
“One of our biggest markets since day one has been Hawaii and we’ve still never put on an event in Hawaii,” White said. “We’ve had multiple world champions from Hawaii. The infrastructure there can’t support a UFC event. But now they’re building a new arena there. Supposed to be done in [2028, 2029].
“I like destinations where people [want to go]. When we do UFC Hawaii, people will lose their minds. Who doesn’t want to go to UFC Hawaii? And every staff member I have working is going to want to work that event.”
White has often talked about the struggles to take the UFC to Hawaii, which has primarily been built around an inadequate arena capable of supporting a major UFC event.
With a new arena being built, that could change everything and there are plenty of Hawaiian fighters on the UFC roster who would be clamoring to compete on that event.
While it’s obviously far from a done deal, White seemed confident that the UFC would eventually go there and now it’s a matter of when and not if.
“So off the top of my head you firing that at me, when I think about UFC Hawaii, that will be a fun one,” White said.
