A general view of the arena during UFC 283 at Jeunesse Arena. Jason da Silva-USA TODAY Sports

A UFC PPV return to Mexico is inevitable

By Marc Ray | Last updated 3/28/23

It’s been three years since the UFC hosted an event in Mexico but with a trio of Mexican-born champions on the roster, it’s a no-brainer that the world’s mixed martial arts leader must return to Mexican soil.

For years, Mexican-born fighters couldn’t reach the UFC’s pinnacle but thanks to the rise of Mexican MMA, led by champions Brandon Moreno, Alexa Grasso and Yair Rodriguez, that has now changed.

Moreno, a 29-year-old from Tijuana, Mexico, dethroned Deiveson Figueiredo in June 2021 to become the UFC’s first Mexican-born champion. He re-captured the undisputed title in January.

In February, Rodriguez, who’s from Chihuahua, Mexico, submitted Josh Emmett at UFC 284 to capture the interim featherweight title.

Three weeks later, Grasso, who was a massive underdog from Guadalajara, Mexico, became the first fighter to submit all-time great Valentina Shevchenko and the first Mexican-born women’s UFC champion.

Mexico deserves an show that features their home-grown talent and a pay-per-view headlined by Mexican-born titleholders would undoubtedly be one of the highest-grossing events in company history.

Three champs took their titles back to Mexico! pic.twitter.com/DeEz2qonaZ
— UFC (@ufc) March 23, 2023

Grasso, who’s on a five-fight unbeaten streak, wants to defend her newly-won title against Shevchenko on home soil during Mexican Independence Day in September.

“I truly would love for this second fight to be in Mexico,” Grasso told Ariel Hewlani of MMA Fighting last week. “I would love that this fight could happen in Guadalajara … Imagine [bringing] the UFC to my city, that would be huge. But if it’s Mexico City, that would be great too.”

During a post-fight news conference on Saturday, UFC president Dana White, who’s been supportive of Mexico, ruled out an event there in 2023.

“We would obviously love to get back to Mexico and do that, but I don’t know if it’s in the plans right now,” White said. “We got three Mexican champions. We probably should be heading to Mexico, or at least doing a Cinco De Mayo, but that didn’t work out either.”

With plans to develop MMA talent in Latin America, the promotion will open a multimillion-dollar performance institute (PI) in Mexico City later this year. It will be the UFC’s third PI, along with their headquarters in Las Vegas and in Shanghai, China.

UFC 188 in 2015 was the last pay-per-view in Mexico but with the success of Moreno, Grasso and Rodriguez, a return to Mexico is inevitable.

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