IF CONOR McGREGOR defeats Jose Aldo at UFC 194 in Las Vegas on 12 December, the UFC are planning to stage his first featherweight world title defence at Croke Park.
However, UFC president Dana White has reiterated that there are some hurdles to overcome before an event at GAA headquarters can take place.
White is in Melbourne this weekend for UFC 193, with the UFC aiming to set a new attendance record at the 70,000-capacity Etihad Stadium.
The UFC boss was asked by Submission Radio for an update on the organisation’s plans to head to Croke Park, and he admitted that the weather and the co-operation of the residents in the vicinity of the stadium are both concerns.
However, White insisted that he’s not worried about the 11pm curfew which would be in operation for such an event.
“No,” White said. “The difficult thing about doing Croke Park is that it’s open to the outdoors and Ireland hasn’t got the best weather in the world. Here [in Melbourne], we can close the roof. More than that too, [Croke Park] has a lot of challenges.
“The neighbourhood. Apparently Garth Brooks sold out seven nights there and the neighbourhood was trying to make him shut down at a certain time, so he yanked all seven nights and never even went there. And he sold out seven nights in a row.
“So we have a lot of challenges for Croke Park, but we want to make it happen if Conor wins.”
