UFC 204: UFC Plans US PPV Start Time for England Event

UFC 204: UFC Plans US PPV Start Time for England Event

UK MMA fans rejoice--the UFC are set to stage their UFC 204 pay-per-view event in Manchester, England on the weekend of October 8th. But there is a twist. S

Aug 4, 2016 by Jim Edwards
UFC 204: UFC Plans US PPV Start Time for England Event
UK MMA fans rejoice--the UFC are set to stage their UFC 204 pay-per-view event in Manchester, England on the weekend of October 8th. 

But there is a twist. Sources close to FloCombat have indicated the promotion is currently working on staging the event at a time suitable for U.S. pay-per-view. 

A European UFC card has not been adapted for U.S. TV times since UFC Fight Night: Gustafsson vs Johnson which was held on January 24, 2015, at the Tele2 Arena in Stockholm, Sweden. 

That evening, the event started at 10:00 pm CET with the televised preliminary card starting at 11:00 pm CET local time. After the six-fight strong preliminary card, the main card then began at 2:00 am (January 25) local time.

Times for UFC Fight Night Gustafsson vs Johnson - Stockholm, Sweden

UFC Fight Pass Preliminary Card

Stockholm (CET) - 10pm Jan 24th
New York (EDT) - 4pm Jan 24th
Las Vegas (PDT) - 1pm Jan 24th

Preliminary Card

Stockholm (CET) - 11pm Jan 24th
New York (EDT) - 5pm Jan 24th
Las Vegas (PDT) - 2pm Jan 24th

Main Card

Stockholm (CET) - 2am Jan 25th
New York (EDT) - 8pm Jan 24th
Las Vegas (PDT) - 5pm Jan 24th

However, is expected that the UFC 204 card in Manchester will start two hours later than that card and stick to traditional US start times. That would therefore the card would have the following start times..

UFC Fight Pass Card

Manchester (BST) – 11pm Oct 8th
New York (EDT) – 6pm Oct 8th
Las Vegas (PDT) – 3pm Oct 8th

Preliminary Card

Manchester (BST) – 1am Oct 9th
New York (EDT) – 8pm Oct 8th
Las Vegas (PDT) – 5pm Oct 8th

Main Card

Manchester (BST) – 3am Oct 9th
New York (EDT) – 10pm Oct 8th
Las Vegas (PDT) – 7pm Oct 8th

At the time of print, no official announcement has been made by the UFC, though it is expected that a UFC middleweight title fight between champion Michael Bisping and Dan Henderson will headline the card. 

On Wednesday, Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting reported two other bouts were already in the works with Jimi Manuwa taking on Ovince Saint-Preux and Stefan Struve expected to face Ruslan Magomedov. It has been widely reported that Vitor Belfort and Gegard Mousasi will also meet at UFC 204, but there is no official word on that matchup at this time.