With a sold-out event already guaranteed for the UFC‘s first voyage in over a decade to Brazil, the wheels are already in motion for the promotion’s return in 2012. And one of the possibilities is a whopper.
In fact, if the UFC pulls it off, it could become the biggest MMA show of all-time.
According to several Brazilian newspapers, on Tuesday, Zuffa co-owners Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta met with Omar Aziz, the governor of Amazonas, and his deputy Jose Melo, among others. There, the group discussed a possible August 2012 date for the UFC that could nearly double the UFC’s previous record attendance.
According to the reports, the event would be held at Manaus’ Convention Center — popularly called “Sambódromo.” The sprawling, outdoor venue is over 400 meters long and can hold a capacity of over 100,000.
“The opportunity to realize the UFC in Manaus and bring home some of the great fighters who are from this region is something that makes us very excited,” Lorenzo Fertitta said.
To date, the largest crowd in UFC history is the 55,724 that filled Rogers Centre in Toronto for UFC 129. The all-time MMA attendance record is held by a joint PRIDE/K-1 promotion in 2002 that reportedly drew 91,107 fans to Tokyo National Stadium in Japan, though that number was never verified and largely believed to have been inflated.
Saturday’s UFC 134 will see 14,000 fans fill Rio’s HSBC Arena. The event sold out in just over an hour, and UFC officials have noted regret at not booking a larger venue. The Manaus show would potentially blow that show away, along with every other show UFC’s ever done.
Among the Zuffa-employed fighters with ties to Manaus are current featherweight champion Jose Aldo and current Strikeforce middleweight champ Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza.
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