The UFC will return to Australian shores in 2025 with Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena announced to host UFC 312 on Sunday 9 February next year.

The octagon has been a smash hit in Australia in recent times with UFC 305 staged in Perth earlier this year, while Sydney held UFC 293 in September last year which was a huge success with the card headlined by Sean Strickland claiming the Middleweight championship from Israel Adesanya.

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Number one UFC featherweight and former champion Alexander Volkanovski declared at the announcement that he is heavily targeting UFC 312 to fight in front of his adoring, home fans.

“I’m going to do whatever it takes to make sure I am on that card,” the Australian said. “I’ll be entertaining in Sydney in February, 100%. Whether it’s fighting for the title, interim, lightweight title, I don’t care what it is. If for some reason I can’t get a fight, I’ll entertain on the DJ decks or something. I’ll find a way to do it.

“I’ll be there front and centre. Hopefully fighting and getting my belt back. Really looking forward to it.

“They talk about the numbers. I really do want to play my part in crunching the numbers here in my home state.”

A sell-out crowd of more than 18,000 fans packed in to Qudos Bank Arena last September and the passion of Australian UFC fans has been rewarded with the New South Wales government through Destination New South Wales announcing UFC 312 as the beginning of a four-year, multi-event agreement with the UFC.

Australia has a rich history of staging sensational fight cards with 18 live events held since 2010 including five in Sydney.

“Sydney, Australia – the Octagon is coming back this summer,” UFC Vice President Australia and New Zealand Peter Kloczko said. “Get ready for another cracking event at Qudos Bank Arena, featuring the best local and international UFC athletes.

“We value the support from our event partners Destination NSW and hope to deliver another record-breaking result, building off the success of UFC 293 in September 2023.”