Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In the short time allotted to me, I'd like to make a contribution to talk about a fantastically brilliant event that happened on the weekend in Western Australia, and that is the Ultimate Fighting Championship—UFC—221. What a magnificent weekend. What a magnificent event for Western Australia. There were 12,500 people crammed into the Perth Arena. It was just as good as the Robbie Williams concert. The vibe was unbelievable. It started off at 7 am. That's when I was there at the arena, and there were thousands streaming in. It even shocked the UFC, because normally they wait for the main card to start and, in the Perth UFC 221, the main card started at 11 am. The place was nearly chock-a-block by 9 am. By all reports, 4,000 people flew in from interstate—not that us West Aussies, or the UFC fans, couldn't fill the Perth Arena but it was a total sellout.

The main event was the Aussie champion, Robbie Whittaker from New South Wales. Robbie, unfortunately, had a staph infection so he couldn't front up for UFC 221. Yoel Romero, the Cuban, took his place. He took on Luke Rockhold. What a magnificent battle that was. The crowd was on its toes all day. There was massive representation from Australian fighters.

Madam Deputy President, I know that you're as excited about the UFC 221 as I am, and I don't blame you. There were four champion Aussies who won, and I'll mention them later should I have the time.

I've got to take a step back in time. Four years ago, I had the ability to contact the UFC, because the previous government, for whatever reason, would not support the closed enclosure—

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Jobs and Innovation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You were going so well!

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm sure you were!

Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No, I'm not going to get political. I'm not going to bag out Colin Barnett. He had his views and that was it. But us on the other side, us UFC and mixed martial arts fans, weren't going to sit down. I started the www.ufcforperthnow campaign and received thousands of signatures. I worked with fellow supporters at the pubs on the weekends. It was a trudge, but I put myself through it, going to many pubs in Perth and the suburbs, so I could to get the support of the UFC fight fans to get this magnificent sporting event to WA.

I won't get in trouble for this because every West Aussie knows how passionate I am about the UFC and getting it to Perth. Listen to this, Senator Cash, this might rock you. There was not one black T-shirt or tattoo left in the suburbs. They were all at the Perth Arena. And what a magnificent event we had. That's true: there was not one black T-shirt or tattoo left. They were all there, and all my supporters as well. Channel 9 says that the coverage went to about 14 million globally. For our great state of Western Australia—no matter who's in government—it brought in some $3.6 million on the sales just as a start.

I really have to thank Peter Closko. He is the UFC guru of Australia. Peter and I met four years ago. Peter, thank you so much, mate, for your undying effort, and your professionalism, to do whatever you could to get this magnificent event to WA. We proved that we're just as passionate as the Victorians. I was at the UFC event in Victoria. I paid my own way. I went there and watched Holly Holm knock out Ronda Rousey. There were 56,000 people. I reckon us West Aussies would have put 56,000 people into the Perth Arena should there have been enough space.

I have to say to those who are so anti UFC and MMA that the beauty of living in Australia is that you can be—us fight fans love it. One of the criticisms was the ratbags that might come to the UFC events—not that there's any ratbags at the Eagles games! I wouldn't suggest that for one minute! There were three people evicted. I saw one pour soul getting frogmarched out. He just took his medicine and left. There were a lot more people outside, who I was talking to, who were trying to find out if they could buy tickets. Unfortunately, there were none left. They had gone. In closing, I was told today that, sadly, there were more evictions at the Neil Diamond concert. (Time expired)