THE UFC have announced that they will return to Belfast in November.

The company announced on the UFC Europe Twitter that they will return to the north for the first time since the UFC 72: Victory event held at the Odyssey arena in June 2007.

The event will be held the SSE Arena on Friday November 19.

James Elliott, General Manager and Vice President of UFC EMEA, said “It goes without saying that Ireland is a key market for us, and the popularity of MMA amongst Irish fans continues to grow exponentially year on year.

“Irish MMA fans are among the most passionate that we’ve seen anywhere in the world, and they have long been asking for the UFC to return.”

The UFC hosted sell out events in Dublin in both 2014 and 2015, with thousands of fans securing their tickets to the events within a matter of minutes.

Elliott said he was looking forward to bringing UFC to the north and expected an "overwhelming response" when the tickets go on sale.

“We look forward to delivering an unforgettable event for the city of Belfast, one which will be remembered for years to come.”

Tickets for the event will go on general sale of Friday September 23.

The news comes as Dublin fighter Conor McGregor prepares to face Nate Diaz in a rematch, following McGregor's shock defeat at the American's hands in March.

Wednesday's press conference for the bout descended into a farce as Diaz stormed out with McGregor throwing a number of plastic bottles and cans at him on his exit.

With the press conference already started, and Diaz in the middle of answering a question, McGregor swanned in twenty minutes late to cheers from the crowd.

The Dublin born fighter laughed as he claimed he was told the wrong time.

"The Vegas traffic was heavy too," he added. "There must be a McGregor show going on because the place is packed out.

"But I'm here and I'm ready to fight. You know you're going to get a fight with me so forget about all this time keeping business."

McGregor and Diaz are set to face off in the Octagon in Las Vegas on Saturday night in a rematch of what was the UFC's highest grossing fight in history.