When the UFC visits Perth for the first time in February, it will stay with tradition, holding events during the day to take advantage of prime-time viewing in North America.
With Western Australia being three hours behind Australia’s Eastern states, it will be an early start for all, with a possible start of 7 AM local time according to UFC officials.
“It’s going to go off 10 PM Eastern and Pacific Coast 7 PM. For Perth, that pushes us back to 7 AM first bout which is obviously three hours earlier than here (Sydney),” UFC executive Dave Shaw told the media at yesterday’s UFC Fight Night 121 post-fight press conference.
“That’s just the name of the game if we’re going to that territory. We have no worry about it.
“I don’t think anyone is going to use it as an excuse to not go and enjoy the fights,” he added.
Two fights have been confirmed thus far for the card with Tyson Pedro (6-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) taking on Russian light-heavyweight Saparbek Safarov (8-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) while Brisbane based American Ben Nguyen (17-6 MMA, 4-1 UFC) clashing with number five ranked flyweight Jussier Formiga (20-5 MMA, 6-4 UFC).
The event is confirmed to take place at the Perth Arena on February 11.
