Dana White Loved Bringing UFC Back To Boston With Championship Card

BOSTON — The Ultimate Fighting Championship returned to Boston in 2023 for the first time since 2018.

In August at TD Garden, UFC 292 offered a highly entertaining card, capped off by a championship victory for Sean O’Malley, who finished Aljamain Sterling to win the lightweight belt.

For a sport that has skyrocketed under White’s tenure, the return to Boston was special to put on a massive event in the city he used to live in as a hotel bellman, dreaming of a bigger career.

“It was awesome,” White told NESN.com in an interview before “The Tradition” at TD Garden on Wednesday. “To come back to Boston and be able to do big fights in the Garden. For somebody like me, it’s the best thing that I could possibly do.”

White got to enjoy a reunion night in Boston, poking around at legendary sports memorabilia before taking part in a panel discussion with other honorees. Bringing the UFC back to the city marked another pinnacle on a resume that earned White the Special Achievement Award at the event through the Boston Sports Museum.

As his love for the city remains strong, the UFC president looks to keep bringing fights to Boston, though there are no current plans in place at the moment.

“Every time I get the chance to sneak in here and do an event, I do it,” White said.

With Boston in mind, one of the sport’s biggest stars Conor McGregor has history in the city, posting a 2-0 record at TD Garden. McGregor has not fought since breaking his leg at UFC 264 in July of 2021. After coaching “The Ultimate Fighter” against fellow lightweight Michael Chandler, White is looking ahead to 2024 for the former two-division champion.

“We talked in text today,” White shared. “He’s in a good place. His head is in a good space. He needs to ride out this next six months of drug testing and get back in the program. We’ll get him figured out next year too.”

White also took time to preview a loaded 2024 calendar in the UFC, with stops in Canada among others.

“There’s so many places that we haven’t been that we have to get back to,” White said. “We’re heading back to Toronto early next year and hitting a lot of these cities that we haven’t been to in a minute.”

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Also on the upcoming slate is a date at the intriguing Sphere in Las Vegas, more title fights and a historic milestone for the promotion with UFC 300.

“Next year is going to be badass,” White added. “Every year, I’m always like, ‘How do I beat this year?’ It always seems to happen. All of these things just sort of line up to make it better than the year before.”

As for the UFC, the company rounds out the calendar year with UFC 296 on Dec. 16 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV.

Tune in to NESN on Tuesday, Dec. 12 for the premiere of “The Tradition 2023.”