Philly’s fighting footprint is expanding fast. This duo sees UFC 330 as a big part of that.

Three.

That’s the number of times UFC has held a sanctioned main event bearing its name inside what is now Xfinity Mobile Arena.

Saturday will be the fourth, and just the second numbered event when UFC 330 comes to South Philly with two massive title fights.

Any MMA enthusiast knows its arrival is a big deal.

But for anyone who has known Philly as a fight town — one with legendary boxers and mixed martial artists, rubber-stamped by a fictional boxer who has personified the culture — realizing that Philadelphia hasn’t been considered fruitful for the MMA giant is surprising.

But it’s not for lack of trying to get more UFC events, and combat sports in general, to choose the city’s largest arena. For over a decade, that fight has been between two main people: Xfinity Mobile Arena senior vice president and general manager Mike Sulkes and Brett Reopell, who has been the venue’s chief booker of talent and events since 2022.

This UFC event is the latest highlight, but it’s been a steady progression of combat sports events flooding the arena since Philly’s own Jaron “Boots” Ennis decided to host multiple title fights at the venue when it was known as the Wells Fargo Center in 2024. He has had three title fights since, including a first-round TKO of Uisma Lima last October.

Lately, the arena also has been the home of David Feldman’s Bare Knuckle Fighting Championships, which has considered making its main events a quarterly fixture at the arena.

To Sulkes and Reopell, UFC and combat sports historically have been a chase. But that hasn’t stopped them from trying.

They noted conversations with Matchroom Boxing, the promotion company associated with Ennis. Having the Philly fighter choose Xfinity Mobile Arena to host his title fights alongside other notable fighters on Matchroom cards felt serendipitous.

“A lot of it was timing,” Reopell told The Inquirer this summer. “We’ve always been chasing boxing and UFC, but there are a couple of factors with that. UFC has a limited amount of events that they do outside of Vegas and internationally. So it doesn’t leave much for the rest of the domestic arenas to fight over.

“With boxing, you really just need a draw, and with Boots being local, that was the hook. We’ve been in conversations with Matchroom before, and it was just that nothing really made sense. But when they landed [Boots], it was an easy [choice] for us here.”

Since Ennis’ initial fight in 2024, Xfinity Mobile Arena has hosted seven combat sports events in less than two years.

Make that eight, courtesy of UFC 330.

Additionally, UFC parking its caravan outside Xfinity on Saturday keeps the Philly area at the epicenter in a summer of world-class sporting events. From the PGA Championship to the MLB All-Star Game to six FIFA World Cup matches, there has been no shortage of major events that have come through the region.

» READ MORE: BKFC will bring bare-knuckle boxing to Philly for the second time in a year with July’s ‘Liberty Brawl’

But getting UFC to consider Philly is no easy task, Sulkes said. Stakeholders to get 330 to come to Xfinity Mobile Arena included not just organizations, arenas, and promoters, but politicians.

“It’s an extensive process,” Sulkes said. “We are constantly pitching our arena and pitching the city of Philadelphia to promoters. We’re always out there, whether it’s [conversations at] industry conferences, traveling to meet with them in person where they’re at. The pitch never really stops for us. [In the case of UFC], these are contacts that we’ve had for many years. It was a long road to convince them to come back with an event of this size and magnitude.

“We had tremendous support from [Pennsylvania] Gov. [Josh] Shapiro as well with his desire to add this to all the USA 250 celebrations. That was a big part of getting this major UFC fight; Philly is really going to be the epicenter of the sports world this summer, and landing a UFC event just felt like a natural hook.”

Both said discussions are ongoing with BKFC to keep Xfinity as “their home base,” according to Reopell, who noted that the promotion is growing rapidly. Earlier this year, BKFC revealed plans to host smaller events at 2300 Arena and fight camps in the area.

A source also revealed to The Inquirer that Xfinity Mobile Arena could play host to another World Wrestling Entertainment event later this fall.

Reopell and Sulkes did not confirm the timeline but told The Inquirer that they have agreed to be on a “regular cycle with WWE, doing 2-3 events a year.” The last event was held across the street at Lincoln Financial Field when WWE’s marquee event, WrestleMania, held its 40th battle royale in Philly in 2024.

“Philly is such a great fight town, and it has been for generations,” Sulkes said. “It just felt natural to lean in at this time and host these big events. So it really goes back to our mindset that we’re always looking for great content for the Delaware Valley, and right now, combat sports are having a great moment, specifically here in Philadelphia.”

» READ MORE: UFC 330 is coming to Philadelphia this weekend. Here’s everything to know, from local fighters to the match schedule.