Gillian Robertson hopes the UFC returns to Scotland, and dreams of fighting in Caledonia.
Speaking exclusively to Combat Sports UK ahead of her promotional strawweight debut, Robertson said that the one place she hopes to fight in her career is Scotland:
“Both my parents are born in Scotland, so I would absolutely love to do a card in Scotland. It would be absolutely be amazing to go over there. I’ve never been over there in general. My whole family is from there, all my heritage is from there. I would love to go in general but to be able to perform there would be absolutely insane for me.”
Whether the UFC plans to return to Scotland any time soon is unknown, but Gillian Robertson isn’t the only fighter on the roster who has lobbied for a return:
Could the UFC return to Scotland?
It’s been a while since the UFC has travelled to Scotland. The last event was held in Glasgow in 2017 and featured a main event between Santiago Ponzinibbio and Gunnar Nelson. However, Scottish, and British MMA as a whole is in a much better place than six years ago. A card in Glasgow nowadays would be loaded with local talent. Paul Craig would be the obvious candidate for one half of the main event, with the likes of Chris Duncan, Joanne Wood, Casey O’Neill, and Danny Henry available to fly the Saint Andrew’s Cross.
The only roadblock (albeit a significant one) is the financial sense of putting on a show in Scotland. The UFC has been making money hand over fist at the O2 arena in London. UFC 286 generated the largest gate in venue history. Whilst the shows have been in London, the UFC has been showcasing plenty of Scottish talent. All of the names mentioned above with the exception of Henry featured on at least one of the last three London cards.
For comparison, the last event in Scotland generated $1.2 million at the gate, whilst UFC 286 this past March exceeded $8.5 million. The non-PPV cards in 2022 also generated over $4.3 million each. Of course the cost of events has increased generally since 2017, so fans in Scotland would likely see a large rise in ticket prices to make it viable. With a seated capacity of approximately 12,300 people, the average ticket cost would need to be $243 to generate a $3 million gate (the minimum non-US gate revenue post-COVID).
Nonetheless, if there is a compelling storyline with a Scottish fighter, the UFC may be forced to answer the cry of fans and return north of the border for the first time since 2017. It just may be an expensive day out for fans, but
If the UFC returns to Scotland, who would you like to see headline the card?
You can see our full interview with Gillan Robertson here:
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
