Canadian fans can expect to host at least four UFC events in 2013, with a possible fifth show in the works for the coming year.
UFC Canada president Tom Wright spoke to Joe Ferraro this past Thursday on UFC Central on Sportsnet 590 in Toronto.
(Hit play to listen to the podcast)
Wright was there to discuss the upcoming National legislation by the Canadian government to regulate mixed martial arts as well as the upcoming UFC 154 event next month in Montreal.
During that conversation, Ferraro asked Wright how many events Canadian fans might expect to see in the coming year.
“We’re not that far away from announcing our full 2013 schedule. Right now, I can tell you that there’s going to be at least four events in Canada, and you know that two of them are going to be in Montreal and Toronto because we’ve announced those two cities as annual locations for 2013 – 2014. There’s going to be at least two cities that may surprise a few people when we come out with our schedule and right now we’re looking at an additional three,” revealed Wright. “So a total of five events in Canada for 2014.”
Despite not naming the other three destinations, Wright did talk about upcoming trips to the Canadian national capital, Ottawa, and the Provincial capital for British Columbia, Victoria, on countries West Coast. It could be that fans may see an FX or FUEL TV show in those cities in the coming year, but this is purely speculation.
With recent FX and Fuel TV events in places like San Jose, Atlantic City, Sunrise in Florida, and Fairfax drawing attendances from 4,000 to 7,000 fans, an untapped region like Ottawa could certainly sell out an arena.
While a city like Victoria, could realistically be a stretch, could easily match the attendance numbers for other previous events. Previous events in Vancouver have not had the reception that the promotion was looking for, so a smaller television event in Victoria could prove more worthwhile for the promotion and fans, rather than a disappointing showing for a pay-per-view event.
Also featured on the podcast was MMAjunkie analyst John Morgan for anyone looking to listen to last Thursday’s show.
Props to MMAWeekly.com for the initial article.