The UFC is making their debut in Azerbaijan on Saturday, just as reports indicate the U.S. government will be bombing next-door neighbor Iran. This event is even airing live on ABC, a prominent U.S. television network. A natural question that arises in rational observers here is, “why on earth is the UFC in Azerbaijan of all places?”
Fight fans are everywhere and some fighters on the card are Azerbaijani. The UFC is a global brand. For that reason, there’s almost no place the UFC could go that wouldn’t make at least some sense. “Azerbaijan and the city of Baku have an incredible history of hosting massive global sporting events,” said UFC President and CEO Dana White in a press release. “We have so many great athletes from in and around this country that it was a natural next destination for us. I’m excited to have our debut event there on June 21.”
But UFC isn’t there because of any of those reasons. Instead, TKO (UFC’s parent company) has leaned into government largess in the form of payment from tourism boards or other relevant agencies that want the UFC to bring either economic impact or help launder an authoritarian government’s image or both.
There isn’t a single rational argument for why the UFC would end up in Baku before Barcelona, Spain or even Hilo, Hawaaii. Places like Barcelona aren’t run by presidents for life who could use sportswashing, however, so while they might be on the UFC’s list of desirable destinations, they’re not a priority.
As authoritarianism’s creep continues in the U.S., I realize there’s a degree of uselessness and borderline hypocrisy in pointing out how some foreign governments are bad about maintaining liberties. But from Saudi Arabia to the Emirates to Azerbaijan, it’s not at all clear if there’s any red line or ethical consideration that would keep the UFC from doing business in any country guilty of heinous crimes against its own people.
And truthfully, they are hardly alone. Saudi Arabia executed a journalist just this week for tweets, but every major promoter in boxing works with him (as does UFC and PFL). This is the state of combat sports. There are no significant red lines, no standards, no principles. The dominant force in all of it is cash transactions.
We discuss this, Aspinall vs. Gane, Aaron Pico vs. Movsar Evloev and so much more on this episode.
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