5 bold predictions for the UFC in 2019

#4 The UFC will put on a huge show in Hawaii

Max Holloway would be the perfect headliner for a UFC show in Hawaii

Last week it was announced that the UFC will be putting on its first show in the state of Kansas in March, and when that show takes place, it means the promotion will have put on shows in 39 of the 50 US states. At this point all of the major states have been ticked off the list – except for one, Hawaii.

Despite a number of great UFC fighters being produced by the Aloha state over the years – BJ Penn, Travis Browne, Brad Tavares and KJ Noons for instance – the promotion has still never visited the archipelago. But I’m predicting that 2019 is the year that this will finally change, and I think two reasons will make it happen.

Firstly, the UFC has a new Hawaiian superstar in the form of current Featherweight champion Max Holloway. ‘Blessed’ recently defended his title by destroying Brian Ortega, and he’s well on his way to becoming a genuine superstar. He’s not quite on the level of BJ Penn just yet, but he’s more consistent than ‘The Prodigy’ ever was and I think that’s why the UFC would love to build a show around him in his home state.

Secondly, despite the existence of smaller Hawaiian promotions like Icon Sport and Rumble on the Rock, it was never a given that a UFC show would do that well in Hawaii. But the success of rival promotion Bellator – who put on a well-received show in Honolulu in December, headlined by a Hawaiian star in Ilima-Lei Macfarlane who has a lower profile than Holloway.

I can’t imagine a situation where the UFC would allow Bellator to set up a hotbed in Hawaii without wanting to muscle in on them, so I suspect the promotion will announce their first show in the state – probably in Honolulu – to be headlined by Holloway at some point in 2019.