The UFC is officially headed to Russia for the first time ever on Sept. 15 with an event planned at the Olimpiyskiy Arena in Moscow.

The UFC is officially headed to Russia for the first time ever on Sept. 15 with an event planned at the Olimpiyskiy Arena in Moscow.

The event will be a UFC Fight Night card with tickets going on sale on June 1.

“Russia is a key part of UFC’s international expansion strategy,” David Shaw, Senior Vice President, UFC International and Content said in a press release. “The demand from our fans to bring a live event to Russia has been overwhelming, and with the vast potential this market holds for us, we knew this was the perfect time to bring UFC Fight Night to Moscow.”

In addition with the announcement of the first ever UFC event in Russia, the promotion also announced Andre Gromkovski as the new vice president to oversee the UFC in Russia.

As of now, no fights have been announced for the card but there have been a long list of Russian fighters already volunteering to participate in this debut event.

This will not be a pay-per-view card so it’s not expected that lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov will compete in this event but depending on the success of the UFC’s expansion into Russia, that could happen in the future.

For now the UFC will celebrate the move into Russia after exploring the option to hold a fight card there for several years and now it’s a reality.