UFC to debut in Russia with UFC Moscow card on September 15

At long last, the UFC has made its debut in Russia official. As previously reported by Denis Geyko of RT Sport, the promotion will take over the Olympic Stadium in the Russian capital of Moscow on September 15.

“Russia is a key part of UFC’s international expansion strategy,” UFC Senior Vice President of International and Content David Shaw said of this UFC Moscow card in a Wednesday release. “The demand from our fans to bring a live event to Russia has been overwhelming, and with the vast potential this market holds for us, we knew this was the perfect time to bring UFC Fight Night to Moscow.”

In anticipation of this Russian debut, the UFC has hired Andre Gromkovski as the new Vice President for UFC Russia. Gromkovski will lead the promotion’s charge into the country.

For the UFC, Russia remains one of the last untapped MMA hotbeds on the planet. It will be interesting to see how the promotion handles its expansion into the country.

For the first time ever, we head to Russia!#UFCMoscow goes down Sept. 15! pic.twitter.com/qsPm9RNbq0

— UFC (@ufc) May 16, 2018

While fans in Russia are surely hoping to see Khabib Nurmagomedov fight on home soil, that’s probably not going to happen this September. Given that this debut in Moscow will be a Fight Night card, Nurmagomedov will almost certainly not be on the bill, but rather saved for pay-per-view card sometime thereafter. That said, we can expect the UFC to stack its Russian debut with top Russian talent.

Which fights would you like to see featured on the UFC Moscow bill? Who do you want to see fighting in the main event? Join the conversation in the comments section below.

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 5/16/2018.