UFC and ONE Championship held 42 events each in 2019; what does the future hold?

In 2019, the UFC and ONE Championship both put on exactly 42 events. It’s an interesting coincidence that serves to underline how active these two promotions have been compared to the competition.

In the last calendar year, the UFC put on events in 15 different countries which has become a standard schedule for the world’s biggest MMA promotion. Meanwhile, ONE Championship held shows in cities across nine different territories which represented a dramatic increase from 2018.

The UFC consistently puts on between 39 and 43 events a year, with the notable exception being 2014 when there were a record 46 shows. By contrast, ONE is ramping up the schedule on an annual basis with 21 events in 2018 and 13 the previous year. 

There are currently 12 events on the UFC calendar scheduled between now and the middle of May in addition to last weekend’s card. Meanwhile, the 2019 ONE Championship schedule has 14 events with one Bangkok fight card already in the books.

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However, the schedule for ONE Hero Series China, ONE Hero Series Philippines and ONE Hero Series Muay Thai has yet to be released. The promotion’s CEO and Founder Chatri Sityodtong announced recently that there would be at least 50 events in 2020 once the full calendar was confirmed.

The third busiest schedule among the major promotions in 2019 belonged to Bellator. It put on 28 events in five different countries during the course of the calendar year.

Between them, the UFC, ONE Championship and Bellator put on 112 events. Other notable promotions at the top of the list are Legacy Fighting Alliance, which held 23 events and Combate Americas which put on 22.