ufc nashville

It was announced Saturday during the UFC 185 broadcast that the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will make its return to Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. on Saturday, Aug. 8, 2015. The event will be a Fight Night that will broadcast live on Fox Sports 1.

No fight announcements have yet been made for the card but stay tuned!

The UFC last visited Music City in Jan. 2012 with “UFC on FX 1: Guillard vs. Miller” and saw Jim Miller submit Melvin Guillard in the first round in the night’s main event.

The state of Tennessee almost lost MMA and boxing this year as the state athletic commission had not been able to sustain itself financially. Fortunately, after fans, coaches and fighters (and evidently the UFC) did their part to let lawmakers hear their voices of support for mixed martial arts (and boxing), the Senate gave the athletic commission an extension into 2016.

The Volunteer State is still not out of the woods with this and the future of MMA in the state past 2015 is still not guaranteed. However, it’s widely known that when the UFC comes to town it provides a huge economic boost and the ripple effect is far-reaching. If the Tennessee State Athletic Commission can follow the example of states like Kentucky (who also regulate pro wrestling) and if major MMA organizations like the UFC can make Tennessee a regular stop on their yearly calendar, then the sport of mixed martial arts won’t have to take an ugly step backward.

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