The UFC is headed back to Kansas City, Mo. and it isn’t the only TKO property headed there this April.
In an announcement by the UFC and its overarching Endeavor-owned conglomerate TKO Group Holdings Inc., the promotion will make its return to T-Mobile Center on Saturday, April 26. Additionally, a Professional Bull Riders (PBR) event held Thursday, April 24 and WWE RAW on Monday, April 28, will be held in the same venue, as part of a three-event stretch the company is calling “TKO Takeover.”
The UFC Fight Night event does not currently have a publicly-known main event. The upcoming card marks the first time the UFC has been to Kansas City since April 2023 when Max Holloway defeated Arnold Allen in a five-round unanimous decision headliner.
While the “TKO Takeover” branding may be new, UFC and WWE have headed to the same cities back-to-back on multiple occasions since the companies merged into TKO in 2023.
The current UFC Fight Night lineup for April 26 includes:
- Abus Magomedov vs. Michel Pereira
- Giga Chikadze vs. David Onama
- Ikram Aliskerov vs. Andre Muniz
- Anthony Smith vs. Mingyang Zhang
- Ahmad Hassanzada vs. Mitch Ramirez
- Jaqueline Amorim vs. Polyana Viana
- Cameron Saaiman vs. Malcolm Wellmaker
- Chelsea Chandler vs. Joselyne Edwards
- Jimmy Flick vs. Matt Schnell
I think they are doing it to get a deal on renting the venue. It’s probably cheaper per night, the more nights they have it rented out.
McNichols Arena , where The Nuggets Played ? Nahhhhhhhh
Where in Missouri? Thats where im from brochacho!
Also, never been to a rodeo but ive heard theyre actually exciting.
Got free tickets to Monster Jam (monster trucks) one year and just went not expecting much and its was surprisingly a blast!
Pulling for Khalil on this one for sure.
Okay yeah those are both nice areas, I go to the Lake of the Ozarks every summer. Im just south of STL.
May have to see when theres a rodeo this summer, think my nephews might enjoy that.
UFC Kansas City fight card
The fights the UFC announced for UFC Kansas City are as follows:
- Jamahal Hill vs Khalil Rountree
- Anthony Smith vs Zhang Mingyang
- Giga Chikadze vs David Onama
- Michel Pereira vs Abus Magomedov
- Ikram Aliskerov vs Andre Muniz
- Ahmad Hassanzada vs Mitch Ramirez
- Jaqueline Amorim vs Polyana Viana
- Cameron Saaiman vs Malcolm Wellmaker
- Chelsea Chandler vs Joselyne Edwards
- Matt Schnell vs Jimmy Flick
No.
TKO surely has a ton of fan research showing there really isn’t all that much crossover between MMA and UFC fans nowadays, esp. compared to the early TUF era when the show had WWE Raw as a lead-in.
Ditto for PBR/UFC/WWE.
But KC as a market has strong enough independent fanbases for all three that they can rent out the arena for an entire week for a discounted rate to host events.
Also, the “TKO Takeover” moniker is an effective way to promote bringing all three brands to a host city. The TKO execs are really bullish on sold shows, and have pushed heavily for more of them, esp. with WWE.
You will likely see other cities giving TKO incentives to host “Takeover” weekends.
Welterweights Ian Machado Garry and Carlos Prates have agreed to meet in the new main event at the upcoming UFC Kansas City event on April 26.
The UFC announced the matchup on Tuesday but made no mention what happened to the original headliner between Jamahal Hill and Khalil Rountree.
No matter the reason with Hill vs. Rountree scrapped, the UFC moved swiftly to book a new main event.