The UFC took a heavy blow when Brock Lesnar was forced to withdraw from his main event fight against Junior dos Santos at UFC 131 due to his second bout with diverticulitis.
The promotion recovered quickly, moving the highly ranked Shane Carwin into Lesnar’s spot against Dos Santos.
As fight night approaches, the UFC is facing a foe that even they may struggle to overcome, Game 5 of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals.
The Vancouver Canucks are in the midst of an exciting seven game series with the Boston Bruins and after the teams each won their two home games in the Finals, the series will return to Vancouver for Game 5 on Friday night.
Vancouver hosted UFC 115 last year, selling out that event in 30 minutes according to a tweet from UFC president Dana White.
A quick check at ticketmaster.ca reveals that tickets remain available for UFC 131.
The Canucks have not been to the Stanley Cup finals since 1994, losing that series in seven games to the Mark Messier led New York Rangers.
Since joining the NHL in 1970, the Canucks franchise has never captured a Stanley Cup. To be only two wins away from capturing one of, if not the, most highly prized trophy in sports, well, it’s just bad luck that the UFC has to compete with that.
UFC 131 will take place on Saturday, June 11 from Rogers Arena in Vancouver. The UFC will stream five preliminary fights on their Facebook page, beginning at 5:50 p.m. ET. Spike TV will then broadcast two preliminary fights at 8:00 p.m. ET. The main card will follow at 9 p.m. ET on pay-per-view.
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