The UFC announced it will return to Dallas for UFC Dallas on Jan. 16, a Fight Night card at the American Airlines Center. No fights have been announced for the event yet. It will be the promotion's seventh trip to Dallas and the first event of its 2027 calendar, ending the usual mid-December to mid-January holiday break. The promotion last visited the city for UFC 277 in July 2022.
The UFC is heading back to Texas to open its 2027 calendar. The promotion announced UFC Dallas, a Fight Night card set for Jan. 16 at the American Airlines Center, as first reported by MMA Fighting.
No fights have been announced for the event yet. The card will mark the promotion's seventh trip to Dallas, which last hosted a UFC event in July 2022 with UFC 277. That gap of more than four years between visits is the longest stretch the promotion has gone without returning to the city since that most recent date, with the new event set to close it.
The Jan. 16 date also carries scheduling significance. UFC Dallas will be the first event of the promotion's 2027 calendar, bringing an end to the usual break that stretches from mid-December to mid-January. By returning on the 16th, the UFC is effectively keeping that holiday pause to its traditional length rather than extending it further into the new year.
Why it matters
- The event opens the promotion's 2027 schedule, so the headliner and early card will set the tone for the year.
- It is the first Dallas show since UFC 277, ending a break of roughly four and a half years once the event takes place.
- With no bouts booked yet, matchmaking for the card remains wide open ahead of January.
Fight Night cards typically build toward a main event and co-main event drawn from the rankings, though the promotion has not said which divisions or fighters will be featured in Dallas. Fans should expect bout announcements to arrive in the coming weeks as the date approaches.
The American Airlines Center has served as the promotion's Dallas venue before, and a January show there gives the UFC a major-market stop right at the start of its calendar. Further details on the card, including broadcast information and ticketing, have not yet been released.
