The UFC will take advantage of 2020’s leap year status to squeeze in another event in February and a return to Virginia.
The promotion on Friday announced a Feb. 29 return to the coastal city of Norfolk, which it visited for the first time in November 2017. The “Fight Night” event, which doesn’t yet have an announced headliner or broadcast information, will take place at Chartway Arena at the Ted Constant Convocation Center on the Old Dominion University campus.
The UFC has visited Virginia on three other occasions apart from its previous trip to Norfolk. All three of those shows were in Fairfax, just outside Washington, D.C.
At UFC Fight Night 120 in Norfolk, Dustin Poirier picked up a third-round TKO of former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis after Pettis injured his ribs. In the co-main event, Matt Brown took out Diego Sanchez with a first-round knockout.
The event drew an announced crowd of 8,442 fans for a live gate in excess of $600,000. The attendance total was near capacity.
Chartway Arena opened in 2002 and is ODU’s multi-purpose venue for sporting events and concerts.