Press Release – Toronto, Canada – The Ultimate Fighting Championship® organization continued its expansion into new Canadian markets today,officially announcing its first?ever event in Winnipeg, Manitoba with UFC 161. The event will take place on June 15, 2013, at the MTS Centre, a 15,000-seat venue that is home to the National Hockey League’s Winnipeg Jets.
“Canadians love their MMA and we love bringing it to them,” said UFC® President Dana White. “There are many Canadian cities on our radar and we hope to visit as many as possible. We’re excited to make Winnipeg happen and can’t wait to bring a stacked card to the MTS Centre.”
The Winnipeg event is part of the UFC®’s ongoing Canadian commitment, which will see three global events taking place in Canada each year between 2012-2014. The UFC® visits Montreal on March 16 with UFC® 158: ST.PIERRE vs. DIAZ while it will also visit Toronto this coming September. Winnipeg now becomes the fifth Canadian city to host a UFC® event as the organization has also hosted events in Calgary and Vancouver.
“We’re proud to add Winnipeg to our list of Canadian UFC cities,” said Tom Wright, UFC® Director of Operations for Canada, Australia and New Zealand. “The city has an impressive résumé in terms of teams including the Jets and Bombers as well as major events such as the Grey Cup and Pan Am Games. We can’t wait for Winnipeg to experience the UFC.”
Tickets for UFC® 161 will go on sale to the general public on Friday, April 12. A special Internet ticket pre-sale will be available to UFC newsletter subscribers on Thursday, April 11. To access this presale, users must register for the UFC newsletter through UFC.com. Also, UFC® Fight Club™ members will have the opportunity to purchase tickets to this event on Wednesday, April 10 via the website ufcfightclub.com. The full UFC® 161 fight card, along with ticket information, will be announced in the coming weeks.
Since 2008, the UFC® has hosted 11 Canadian events (not including UFC® 158 slated for March 16) with each experiencing tremendous success. Collectively, the events have seen more than 200,000 fans in attendance and millions worldwide watching on Pay-Per-View. In addition, the four host cities to date – Calgary, Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto – have had a cumulative gross gate of almost $50M and millions more in direct economic impact.
For more information, or current UFC fight news, visit UFC.com. All bouts live and subject to change.
UFC® 161 will be available live onPay-Per-View at 10 p.m. ET/9 p.m. CT/7 p.m. PT on UFC.TV, iN DEMAND, DirecTV, DISH Network, Avail-TVN, and in Canada on BellTV, Shaw Communications, Sasktel, and Viewer’s Choice Canada for a suggested retail price of $44.99 US/$49.99 CAN for Standard Definition and $54.99 US/$59.99 CAN for High Definition.
About the Ultimate Fighting Championship®
Universally recognized for its action-packed,can’t-miss events that have sold out some of the biggest arenas and stadiums across the globe, the UFC® is the world’s premier mixed martial arts (MMA) organization. Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, headquartered in Las Vegas and with offices in London, Toronto and Beijing, UFC produces more than 30 live events annually and is the largest pay-per-view event provider in the world. In 2012, the UFC burst into the mainstream with a landmark seven-year broadcast agreement with FOX Sports Media Group. The agreement includes four live events broadcast on the FOX network annually, with additional fight cards and thousands of hours of programming broadcast on FOX properties FX and FUEL TV. This also includes the longest-running sports reality show on television, The Ultimate Fighter®, which now airs on FX.
In addition to its reach on FOX, UFC programming is broadcast in over 145 countries, to nearly 800 million TV households worldwide, in 28 different languages. UFC content is also distributed commercially in the United States to bars and restaurants through Joe Hand Promotions, in English throughout Canada via Premium Sports Broadcasting Inc. and Australia via Main Event and in French throughout Quebec via Interbox. The UFC also connects with tens of millions of fans through its website, UFC.com, as well as social media sites Facebook and Twitter. UFC President Dana White is considered one of the most accessible and followed executives in sports, with over two million followers on Twitter. Ancillary UFC businesses include best-selling DVDs, an internationally distributed magazine, UFC.TV offering live event broadcasts and video on demand around the world, the best-selling UFC Undisputed® video game franchise distributed by THQ, and a new franchise in development with EA, UFC GYM®, UFC Fight Club affinity program, UFC Fan Expo® festivals, branded apparel and trading cards.