After drawing 8,000 fans, UFC targeting May 2015 return to Berlin

BERLIN – Today’s UFC Fight Night 41 event, which marked the organization’s debut in Berlin, drew an announced attendance of 8,000. That could lead the promotional to book a return trip to the German capital next year.

Following the event, which streamed on UFC Fight Pass from O2 World Berlin, UFC executive Garry Cook discussed the plans.

According to Cook, the organization has started negotiations for a UFC event in Berlin on May 23, 2015.

Although a live-gate tally wasn’t announced for today’s show, and though the attendance figure can’t be verified, Cook appeared pleased with the show.

UFC Fight Night 41 was the organization’s first show in Germany since November 2010 and just the third overall. UFC 99, which took place in Cologne, drew an announced attendance of 12,854 in 2009. A year and a half later, UFC 122 took place in Oberhausen and drew an announced attendance of 8,421.

Those shows were dogged by bad press, which delayed a return to the country. However, the headlines were much more favorable this time around, and in the post-fight press conference, a few European fighters made special note of the positive coverage.

According to Cook, the UFC hopes Berlin can be one of the organization’s “European bases” in future years.

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 41, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(Pictured: Garry Cook)