UFC owns eight Octagons, forward deploying in Asia
The most visible symbol of the Ultimate Fighting Championship is the cage in which the mixed martial arts bouts are…
The most visible symbol of the Ultimate Fighting Championship is the cage in which the mixed martial arts bouts are contested.
And with no Octagon, there is no show. As the Octagon made its journey from Los Angeles to Australia, where it will be used on Saturday (Sunday locally) for UFC 110 at Acer Arena, it created a few anxious moments for the UFC’s Marshall Zelaznik, the UFC’s managing director of international development.
The cage was delayed in Taiwanese customs on its journey and Zelaznik’s heart beat just a little bit faster.
In 2010, though, the UFC already has fights scheduled in the U.S., Canada, Australia, the United Arab Emirates and will almost certainly will hold another show in the United Kingdom.
For UFC 110, that means moving the Octagon, which weighs between three and four tons, about 10,000 miles. There’s not an overnight shipping company for that task.
The Octagon – one of eight, Zelaznik says – is stored in a 40-foot container when not in use. The UFC investigated shipping it by airplane, but Zelaznik said the costs were outrageously high.
And so, the cage that will be used on Sunday was stuck on a ship in Los Angeles last month and, literally, sent on a voyage halfway around the world. It got stuck in customs, but Zelaznik said the Octagon made it into Australia two weeks ago, where it will stay.
