Additional notes from Josh Nason
On Saturday, UFC officially announced their 2017 International Fight Week as the company’s answer to WrestleMania week will take place from 7/5 through 7/8 in Las Vegas.
Here’s the current schedule:
– The Hall of Fame ceremony has been moved to Thursday night, which will be the first major event of the week.
– The Ultimate Fighter finale show on FS1 will be held at the T-Mobile Arena on Friday.
– The big show will be Saturday’s UFC 213 as the Fight Week PPV is traditionally one of the company’s major cards of the year. Right now, the desired main event is middleweight champion Michael Bisping vs. Georges St-Pierre, but as noted in the current issue of the Observer, there are issues with finalizing that bout.
– There will also be a fanfest called the UFC Fan Experience, a two-day event at Toshiba Place at The Park, part of the outdoor dining and entertainment district adjacent to the T-Mobile Arena.
Of note is the difference from last year’s International Fight Week is the absence of a Thursday night show on UFC Fight Pass. The lack of Fight Pass only shows this year has been a talking point and with the company trying to establish a new set of stars on top, perhaps the less is more approach was applied to this year’s Fight Week.