The city of Miami proper finally is getting a UFC event.
The promotion announced the city will host UFC 287 on April 8 at Miami-Dade Arena, home of the NBA’s Miami Heat. UFC president Dana White revealed the news Saturday.
“I’m always talking about big destination (events), and we are going back to Miami at the Miami-Dade Arena. Miami, we are back,” White said in a video post on social media.
The promotion has not been to Miami since UFC 42 in April 2003. In that main event, UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes defended his welterweight title against Sean Sherk.
Although UFC 287 is a return to downtown Miami for the first time since 2003, the promotion has been in the area six other times since then with four visits to Hollywood, Fla., about 20 miles from Miami-Dade Arena and a pair of shows in Sunrise, Fla., about 30 minutes from central Maimi, most recently in 2019.
UFC 287 will be headlined by a middleweight title rematch between champion Alex Pereira (7-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) and former champ Israel Adesanya (23-2 MMA, 12-2 UFC). Pereira beat Adesanya to win the title in New York this past November. He also holds two wins over him in kickboxing.
Miami’s own Jorge Masvidal (35-16 MMA, 12-9 UFC) also will return to the cage when he takes on Gilbert Burns (20-5 MMA, 13-5 UFC) in the welterweight co-main event.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 287.
