Dana White: Landmark UFC 200 set for July 2, 2016, at Las Vegas' new arena

LAS VEGAS – You can go ahead and start making your plans now for next year’s “International Fight Week.” It has its anchor, and it’s another landmark.

UFC 200 will take place July 2, 2016, in Las Vegas – at the city’s new and still under-construction venue, MGM-AEG Arena, just west of MGM Grand Garden Arena.

UFC President Dana White made the announcement today at the UFC Fan Expo, which took place at Sands Convention Center in Las Vegas. No fights have been announced for the card.

“Every year, we just want to make this thing bigger and bigger,” White told fans at the expo after announcing the plans for the card.

Construction on what currently is called MGM-AEG Arena began a little more than a year ago. The finished facility will hold upwards of 20,000 fans for MMA and boxing events, as well as concerts. The venue sits just behind the New York-New York casino.

When the arena was announce in May 2014, White told MMAjunkie that he had been promised the ability to hold the first sporting event in the venue.

This year’s “International Fight Week” has Saturday’s UFC 189 as its anchor event with Conor McGregor vs. Chad Mendes in the headliner. Past UFC pay-per-views in the early July time period, around the Independence Day holiday, have included UFC 175, which saw Chris Weidman beat Lyoto Machida in a middleweight title bout; UFC 162, which saw Weidman upset Anderson Silva; UFC 148, a rematch between Silva and Chael Sonnen; and, of course, the landmark UFC 100 in July 2009 – heretofore the best-selling pay-per-view in UFC history.

For more on UFC 200, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.