Canada and Canadian fighters have had another prominent year in the UFC with overall fighter success, big star power and strong fan support for the number one fighting promotion in the world. The feeling is positive north of the border heading in to 2013, but how can you really measure impact and success in any given year without breaking down the various numbers of the game.
Here is a 2012 breakdown, by the numbers, of the impact that Canada has had on the UFC.
- Three out of 31 total events were held in Canada
- Three of the top six gate attendance shows were held in Canada
- 24 Canadians fought in the UFC
- Canadian fighters were on 17 of 31 fight cards
- Canadians were involved in 38 fights out of over 300, for approximately 10 percent
- Win-loss record of 22-15 with one No Contest ruled in Clements vs Riddle for a 58% winning percentage
- Eight finishes in 38 fights for a 21% finish percentage
- Three Fight of The Night bonuses—Mark Hominick, Sam Stout, Georges St-Pierre
- The most fights by a Canadian in 2012 is three by Sam Stout and Antonio Carvalho
- One title fight in 2012—Georges St-Pierre vs Carlos Condit
UFC 154 from Montreal generated 700,000 pay-per-view buys to make it the second most highly watched pay-per-view event held this year along with UFC 145: Jones vs Evans and behind UFC 148: Silva vs Sonnen, which pulled in 1,000,000 buys.
It was also the third most highly watched pay-per-view held in Canada behind UFC 124 Montreal and UFC 129, which each had 800,000 buys.
These numbers should only go up in 2013 as there are already plans for four events to be held in Canada next year, with many up-and-coming fighters waiting in the wings to join the ranks and land a UFC fight.
Dwight Wakabayashi is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report UFC and regular contributor to Sportsnet.ca’s UFC section. Follow him on Twitter @wakafightermma.
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