Oh this? It’s just the biggest card in UFC history.
Three monster bouts were added to UFC 200’s billing on Wednesday evening and it’s left Irish fight fans clamouring for information about how best to make their way to Las Vegas.
A rematch between Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz has been confirmed for the July 9 event and it will be afforded main event status over the interim featherweight title fight which will be contested between Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar.
It’s expected that an undisputed title fight will also be added to the card that currently looks like this.
Sean Shelby and Joe Silva are truly outdoing themselves with this one.
Now all you need to worry about is getting to the brand new T-Mobile Arena, getting a roof over your head and getting back to Ireland in one piece.
We’ve tried our best to take everything into account – open workouts, media days, TUF 23 finale, etc – as well as give you a decent place to stay.
Flights
In terms of travel, we have you flying with Aer Lingus and United Airlines and leaving Dublin airport at 11.30 am on Tuesday, 5 July. You will fly 8 hours to Chicago, with a short stopover before boarding your 4 hour flight to Las Vegas.
You will arrive at 5 pm, Vegas time, and have just enough time to squeeze in dinner, drinks and a spot of blackjack before bed.
We have you returning the following Monday, 11 July. Having personally travelled home the morning after UFC 196, I would not wish it on my worst enemy and that extra recovery day in Vegas is vital.
You will fly out at 6 am on Monday morning, get to Chicago for lunch time and be back in Dublin for 5 am Tuesday morning.
The round trip will cost you €941, at the time of writing, and this is basically the cheapest you’ll get.
Accommodation
For our money, you’d be hard done by to find a better place to stay than The Excalibur for the six nights of 5/7/2016-11/7/2016 and a double room isn’t exactly ludicrously priced, for the few days that’s in it.
It’s prime location for access to all of the attractions on the strip and is a mere 7 minute walk away from the new T-Mobile Arena which will host the fights.
RT if you're PUMPED for #UFC200!! Diaz. McGregor. Aldo. Edgar. Register at https://t.co/hVKGnw5ifv NOW! https://t.co/tyOVnMi9pY
— UFC (@ufc) March 31, 2016
With the humidity in Vegas in the summer, the less walking you have to do the better.
Of course, The Excalibur doesn’t quite have the opulence of The Ballagio or the iconic facade of The MGM but those hotels are a hell of a lot more expensive than the asking price for this hotel that isn’t exactly luxurious. But it does the job.
Tickets
With UFC 200 more than three months away, tickets are obviously not on sale yet but we’re sorry to say that we think they may cost you a pretty penny.
Tickets typically are released about two months ahead of fight night but we can look at the price range of tickets for UFC 196 as something of a guideline for the range for UFC 200.
Depending on the seat you were after, tickets for the March 5th card cost punters between €186 and €1,330 but both the minimum and maximum could be raised ever so slightly for July, given the high levels of demand expected.
What we can advise you to do is to sign up for UFC’s Fight Club service for an up-front fee of €70 which entitles you to access to presale tickets more than 24 hours before they go on sale to the general public.
Where in the arena you’d like to sit will obviously dictate the price of the tickets but if you’re a member of Fight Club then, at least, you’re avoiding being disappointed when the tickets inevitably sell out.
