Do you have June 23 circled on your calender? If so, it might be time to start searching for a bottle of Wite-Out.
That’s because the highly anticipated rematch between middleweight champion Anderson Silva and outspoken contender Chael Sonnen may have to be rescheduled.
You’re probably wondering what could possibly take precedence over a fight of this magnitude. If you guessed “soccer match,” you are incorrect.
The correct answer is a United Nations Conference.
As noted by MMAFighting.com, UFC president Dana White confirmed that the scheduling of UFC 147 is up in the air during the UFC on Fuel TV 2 post-fight presser.
The problem is, they don’t like the idea of us coming the same time this United Nations convention is going on. The other problem is hotel rooms. Most of the hotel rooms are being taken up. And we don’t think, we know that the Anderson Silva-Chael Sonnen fight is one of the biggest sporting events this year, in the world.
The UN summit, which is being held to discuss sustainable development, is penciled in for a three-day duration, running from June 20 to June 22. Notably, UFC 147 is tentatively scheduled for the following day.
So what’s the problem?
Well, in addition to the hotel occupancy overlap, the UFC was hoping to make this event a real show. The promotion was planning to take over Rio de Janeiro for the entire weekend, and the pre-fight pressers and weigh-ins were supposed to be a big part of the invasion.
Says Dana White:
I think it’s a huge sporting event. I think people will come to Rio from all over the world. I think we’re going to need hotel rooms. Hopefully we’ll get this thing done the next few days, one way or the other.
The hopes of turning Rio into a three-day UFC party took a hit with this announcement and leaves the company with two options. The event can be rebooked, or a “the show must go on” approach can be adopted.
As White says, it shouldn’t be too long before this mess is all sorted out.
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