UFC announces 'anchor tenant' agreement with T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas

Expect to see more UFC events at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The Sin City venue, which hosts Saturday’s UFC 209 pay-per-view event, has teamed up with the UFC for an “anchor tenant” deal.

AEG and MGM Resorts, which operates T-Mobile Arena, today announced the “multi-year” partnership, which calls for the UFC to host four annual events at the arena. Other details weren’t revealed.

“Las Vegas has always been the home of UFC, and after more than a decade, it is awesome to now have a historic venue deal in the fight capital of the world to make it official,” UFC President Dana White stated.

In the announcement, officials touted that the “anchor tenant” deal is the first of its kind for a major MMA promotion.

Additionally, according to the announcement: “UFC will have priority scheduling for its major events, such as International Fight Week, and will have a presence at T-Mobile Arena – headlining the welcome sign in the lobby alongside the (NHL’s) Vegas Golden Knights, as well as concourse activations, signage and retail space. WME-IMG also owns the Professional Bull Riders (PBR), which has a long-term agreement for its World Finals at T-Mobile Arena.”

T-Mobile Arena, which can seat up to 20,000 people depending on its configuration, opened in April 2016 and hosted its first major show – a Canelo Alvarez vs. Amir Khan boxing event – in May 2016.

The UFC’s first T-Mobile Arena show came in July 2016 with the milestone UFC 200 event. Not counting UFC 209, which features a headliner between welterweight champ Tyron Woodley (16-3-1 MMA, 6-2-1 UFC) and challenger Stephen Thompson (13-1-1 MMA, 8-1-1 UFC), the fight promotion has hosted three shows (UFC 200, UFC 202 and UFC 207) to date at the venue; those events have averaged more than 17,000 spectators each.

Prior to the opening of T-Mobile Arena, the UFC hosted most of its major Las Vegas events at MGM Grand Garden Arena and Mandalay Bay Events Center.

For more on UFC 209, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.