Historically, the UFC has made Super Bowl weekend its time for a pay-per-view show in Las Vegas, Nevada. For 2017, they will be going to the site of the Super Bowl itself for a Fight Night card on Fox Sports 1. UFC officials announced on Sunday that they’ll be at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas on Saturday, February 4th. No fights have been announced as of this writing.
The last time the UFC didn’t hold an event in Las Vegas on Super Bowl weekend was in 2014, when UFC 169: Barao vs. Faber 2 was staged at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, with Super Bowl 48 taking place in East Rutherford, New Jersey on the following day. Much like 2014, FOX has the broadcast fights to this NFL season’s Super Bowl, which will be at Reliant Stadium (also in Houston) on Sunday, February 5th, where the Patriots will probably play the Cowboys.
Houston’s last UFC show was UFC 192 in October 2015, when Daniel Cormier edged out Alexander Gustafsson by split decision to defend his UFC light heavyweight title. The city’s biggest ever MMA result was Matt Serra’s knockout win over Georges St-Pierre at UFC 69 in 2007.
This year’s Super Bowl weekend card in Las Vegas was supposed to be UFC 196, but with Cain Velasquez and Fabricio Werdum both unable to compete at the event, a last-minute switch was made to have the event air as a Fight Night show on FS1, with Stephen Thompson’s knockout of Johny Hendricks serving as the main event.
So far, the UFC’s first two confirmed events of 2017 are both FS1 Fight Nights shows – Sunday, January 15th in Phoenix, and this February 4th Super Bowl special in Houston.
