UFC Executive David Shaw says there will be fewer APEX events in 2025

The UFC is looking to get on the road more often in 2025.

For the past several years, a major talking point among MMA fans has been the rise of the UFC APEX. Built in 2019, the APEX became one of the UFC’s primary event venues during the COVID-19 pandemic as promotion continued to put on shows during the lockdown. However even after the lockdowns ended, the APEX remains a fixture of the UFC rotation to the dislike of some fans. But that may be changing soon.

This past Saturday, UFC Edmonton took place and per the promotion it broke the record for highest-grossing UFC Fight Night event in North American history. This comes on the heels of similar performances when the promotion visited other locations like Denver and Louisville earlier this year, and speaking with reporters after the event, UFC Vice President David Shaw told reporters that this continued success will lead to some changes for how often the UFC goes on the road in 2025.

“Yeah, there will be [more events on the road],” Shaw said. “There will be an increased number of events outside of the APEX relative to this year as we get into the 2025 schedule.”

This weekend marks the UFC’s 100th event in the APEX and will be the promotion’s 17th trip there this year. The promotion also used the APEX 17 times in 2023, down from the 21 times they held events there in 2022.

But while Shaw envisions a world where the UFC relies less heavily on the APEX, he also made it clear that things will not return to the pre-COVID era where every show was somewhere different.

“It’s tough for us to anticipate what two or three years down the road looks like, but it makes a lot of sense for a lot of reasons,” Shaw explained. “There’s a lot of fighters in Vegas, it’s easy for us operationally, it’s simple from a budgetary perspective. The rigor and the pressure and how laborious it can be to be on the road... It’s tough.

“So I think having home games and being in the APEX where we can just turn off the lights and lock the door, it makes a lot of sense for us. So will we ever get back to pre-COVID or no APEX? I don’t think so. But I think we’re going to find the right balance for us.”

And according to Shaw, more road shows does not just mean more opportunity for American fans to attend events. With the UFC’s media rights deal ending next year, Shaw says that more international trips is part of the promotion’s longterm planning as well.

“Are there more plans? Yes. We’re going to be back in the U.K. next year,” Shaw said “... Then as we get through next year which is sort of the last year of our current media deal in the U.S. and we start to plan out what we want to do in 2026 and beyond in terms of the number of international events we can have, the intention is to be able to go back to Europe more often.”