Real Madrid interested in staging Connor McGregor fight at Bernabéu

It’s no secret that the Ultimate Fighting Chmapionship (UFC) brand is looking to expand in Europe following the public and commercial success of its recent event in Manchester. One of the sport’s biggest stars, Connor McGregor, has particularly expressed desire in staging a fight nearer to his homeland, Ireland, so that his die hard fans don’t have to travel so far to see him.

Ireland McGregor's first choice 

With such factors in mind, UFC has been in contact with various cities and interested parties around the European continent about hosting a McGregor fight. As is logical, one of the first countries to put its hand up has been Ireland, where a capacity crowd would be guaranteed.

Despite that, the American organisation is keeping its option open, and one of the possible destinations that has been thrown into the hat is the Santiago Bernabéu stadium, home of Real Madrid.

Real Madrid "glad" to host UFC event 

Indeed according to Irish radio station Newstalk, Real Madrid has expressed interest in holding a UFC event, with McGregor as the headline fight. Speaking exclusively to Newstalk.com, a spokesperson for the club said they would “be glad if we could make a UFC event; our stadium can hold more than 80.000 fans.”

The Spanish giants confirmed the “event has to be hosted from May to July” – during professional football’s off-season – and that they would require a reasonable timeframe to plan in advance.

McGregor and Cristiano 

If the fight did go ahead in Madrid, it would be the perfect opportunity for McGregor to meet up with his pal Cristiano Ronaldo. The two were pictured hanging out together while Ronaldo enjoyed his summer vacation in the United States earlier this year.

Following that rendezvous, a few days later McGregor comically let slip details of Ronaldo’s pending contract extension with Real Madrid – something which is still yet to be finalised.