UFC 304 UK fans upset at event start times. Aspinall agrees

[TGArthur]

MSN

Tom Aspinall will be ready to fight whoever, and whenever, when the UFC returns to Manchester in July, but he understands why fans in the United Kingdom might be upset with the promotion in regards to when that event will begin.

UFC 304 takes place July 27 at the new Co-op Live in Manchester, England, and Aspinall is expected to defend his interim heavyweight title on that card. The problem for local fans is when Aspinall’s fight will take place, since the event will have the same start times as U.S. pay-per-views do — which means the final few fights will happen in the early morning hours of Sunday. Aspinall responded to a fan question about this very topic on his YouTube channel.



“Well, as an athlete, as a fighter, in all honesty, it doesn’t make that much difference — probably for a couple of weeks before I’ll have to wake up and train at that time, or stay up, or whatever,” Aspinall said. “I’ve flown across the world multiple times and fought on different time zones, so it’s not as bad as that.

“As a fan who wants to watch it live, I think it is absolutely terrible. I think... yeah, it’s just not fair on the fans, not fair on the U.K. fans.”

Aspinall captured the interim title with a first-round knockout against Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295 this past November.

While he feels for his local fanbase, and would like to see the event take place for their specific time zone, as opposed to catering the U.S. audience, Aspinall is thrilled the promotion is heading back to the city.

“Obviously, it’s predominantly an American audience, so I understand that they want to sell to them,” Aspinall explained. “But why can’t they sell to them in the afternoon — which is our evening time? Why can’t the Americans watch it in the afternoon? And the U.K. fans, the Manchester fans, the European fans, can all fly to this event [and] sell out this new arena.

“I mean, it’s going to sell out regardless, mate. We’re very, very, very, very lucky to have a pay-per-view event in Manchester. Very lucky. But U.K. MMA, let’s put it on U.K. time.”

 

[VinceArch]

Hasn't it always been like this though when they have cards in Europe? UFC 75, UFC 120, UFC 122 etc.

 

[HHJ]

Those fans are gonna be totally trashed.

 

[tornado362]

Hasn't it always been like this though when they have cards in Europe? UFC 75, UFC 120, UFC 122 etc.

Pretty sure UFC 286, the most recent UK PPV was on at a normal time? And the most recent fight nights definitely have been

 

[Aldo145]

Id rather the fights start in the afternoon.

 

[Oscar Madison]

Fk all -- they don't give the TIME?

The TIME is the whole point -- "early morning hours" is not the TIME.

There are early morning Pub Crawl drinking hours.
There are early morning hook up hours.
There are early morning Last Call hours.
There are Zero Dark Thirty hours.
Etc

THIS BUM POSTING AND ARTICLE DOES NOT GIVE THE TIME.

 

[Conan the K-9]

I agree too, this is bs for European fans. We only got a few cards yearly and now they fuck the time for this one too.

Wasn’t the last Singapore card also time wise shitty for the local crowd?

How do they choose the events and locations, where the crowd who buys the overpriced tickets to the arena, is in a worse position than the PPV buying audience?

 

[Ares Black]

It's completely ridiculous and the UFC should be ashamed of themselves.

 

[Blastbeat]

Fk all -- they don't give the TIME?

The TIME is the whole point -- "early morning hours" is not the TIME.

There are early morning Pub Crawl drinking hours.
There are early morning hook up hours.
There are early morning Last Call hours.
There are Zero Dark Thirty hours.
Etc

THIS BUM POSTING AND ARTICLE DOES NOT GIVE THE TIME.

main card starts at 10 PM EST, according to the UFC's website.
i believe Manchester is 6 hours ahead of the East Coast USA
so that would mean the main card STARTS at 3AM local time. that is fuckin stupid. the event should be at the best time for the local audience to see it. PPVs are so outdated anyway.
just give us a big event in the middle of the day; speaking as an American on the East Coast i would love a UFC event in the middle of the day again. and it would allow the fans in England a chance to see the fights at a more reasonable hour.

 

[Ares Black]

Fk all -- they don't give the TIME?

The TIME is the whole point -- "early morning hours" is not the TIME.

There are early morning Pub Crawl drinking hours.
There are early morning hook up hours.
There are early morning Last Call hours.
There are Zero Dark Thirty hours.
Etc

THIS BUM POSTING AND ARTICLE DOES NOT GIVE THE TIME.

Early prelims start at 11PM local time. Main event will happen at about 5AM.

It's insane. Not sure who thought this was a good idea.

 

[Human Bass]

Dana cares more about California residents than UK ones while making the event in the UK lol

 

[MixMartialFarts]

UFC slapping the UK fight fans in the face.
I personally like the afternoon cards every once in a while. They must get shitty PPV buys though otherwise I don't know why the UFC would choose to do this.

 

[Only Here for Attachments]

Will the main event get cut off for Peppa Pig again?

 

[Phillyz]

1776

 

[Barteh]

Yeah it's completely ridiculous.

 

[Pechan]

If they attend then they have no one else to blame but themselves.

 

[stronghulk]

It is insane. The fighters have to adapt to fight in the middle of the night, just so the ppv can sell at the normal time in the US. That is the only reason but it doesn't make it right, it is stupid. But the fighters will say yes, people will buy tickets, so the shows will go on..but yeah, stupid.

 

[RustyHerb]

Personally, I think it's an excellent idea to lock a load of mancs and scousers into a room after a day on the lash with nothing but cage fighting and marching powder to keep the peace. Good times.

 

[Rorschachxx]

Hasn't it always been like this though when they have cards in Europe? UFC 75, UFC 120, UFC 122 etc.

There have been exceptions, like Leon vs Usman. Its strange, considering the Abu Dhabi cards are always at local time. Whereas UK and Australia seem to get fucked over more times than not.

 

[Prince Nephilim]

Hold that shit Europe. America still claiming victories over you to this day.

I use to watch Pride PPV’s at like 5-7am. Just conform or record.