NEW YORK — A rumored summertime UFC event in Calgary is still under consideration and yet to be finalized, but UFC president Dana White on Tuesday told MMA Fighting that he’s confident a deal will get done.
“It’s not done but it’s going to happen,” White said on Tuesday after a press conference to announce another event, the UFC on FOX 3 show in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Other sources told MMA Fighting that several details still need to be worked out before the date can be officially added to the UFC’s calendar. The projected date and site for the event, which would be UFC 149, is July 21 at the Scotiabank Saddledome, the home arena of the NHL’s Calgary Flames.
The possibility of the event was first reported by Canada’s Sportsnet. Just yesterday, however, Sportsnet reported that the Canadian Medical Association is mounting opposition to a possible event in the Calgary, even though other events have previously been sanctioned in the city’s home province of Alberta.
Canada has been a major market for the UFC over the last few years, with the promotion’s largest-ever gate, $11 million, coming from a Rogers Centre event in Toronto. Other successful events have been held in Montreal and Vancouver, but a planned March show in Montreal was scrapped after the UFC couldn’t secure a worthy main event, and Vancouver seems to have fallen off the UFC’s radar after regulatory changes, insurance concerns and other issues.
That’s left Edmonton and Calgary as the two Canadian cities most likely to get a UFC event, and for now it seems that the latter is more likely to get one first.
The Scotiabank Saddledome’s seating capacity is 19,289 for hockey, with other configurations including floor seats possibly boosting that total higher.