The question came from a Russian-speaking journalist at the UFC 333 post-fight press conference in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, October 24, 2026. White was asked what it would take for the UFC to return to the country that produced two of its current champions.

“There hasn’t been (any talks), no. But it’s a good question. We have not talked about doing an event in Russia. But yeah, we probably should,” White said.

The UFC has not held an event on Russian soil since UFC Fight Night 163 in Moscow on November 9, 2019. The promotion ran three cards in the country between 2018 and 2019, then pulled out of the market, and Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine closed the door for most of international sport.

Yan’s trilogy win sets up the question

The pretext for the question was the co-main event, where bantamweight champion Petr Yan outworked Merab Dvalishvili over five rounds to retain his title, with all three judges turning in 48-47 cards in his favor. Yan is now 2-1 in the trilogy against the former champion.

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The Russian pitched his own answer. In the aftermath of the win, Yan floated a title defense in Yekaterinburg at a newly built 12,000-13,000 seat arena.

UFC 333 ran at Etihad Arena and broke Abu Dhabi’s attendance and gate records. White told reporters it was the highest-grossing UFC card in the city’s history, with more than half the crowd flying in from outside the UAE, and the promotion now holds four of the top five gates in the venue’s history. The main event saw featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski stop the previously 20-0 Movsar Evloev in the second round.

The sanctions picture around Russia is pulling in two directions

A UFC return to Russia would land in the middle of a US sanctions regime that has shifted sharply in recent weeks. On October 16, President Donald Trump, a long-time friend of White’s, waived a package of Russia-related sanctions days before they were due to take effect under a bill he had signed into law weeks earlier. The waiver drew bipartisan criticism in Congress and a sharp reaction from Kyiv.

The International Olympic Committee lifted its suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee in July 2026, although the IOC itself has not resumed holding events in Russia. The war in Ukraine itself is still active, with a Russian strike on a Zaporizhzhia apartment building on October 10 killing 23 people, including four children.

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White did not set a timeline for a Russian event, and no venue, date or opponent has been attached to Yan’s Yekaterinburg suggestion.

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