UFC sets date for first Fight Night card in Brazil in 2015

The UFC will make seven trips to Brazil in 2015, and the first one will be right after Carnival.

The UFC will be announcing its complete 2015 schedule at a special event on Nov. 17 in Las Vegas, but MMAFighting.com learned with sources close to the situation, that UFC’s first Fight Night card in Brazil next year is scheduled for Feb. 22.

Location and venue are still yet to be defined, sources said, but Jaragua do Sul is a possibility.

The promotion has held a pair of Fight Night cards at Arena Jaragua, drawing an announced attendance of 7,642 and 7,511 for Vitor Belfort vs. Luke Rockhold in 2013 and Lyoto Machida vs. Gegard Mousasi in 2014, respectively.

The next UFC card scheduled for Brazil is on Dec. 20, 2014, with Machida headlining UFC Fight Night 58 against C.B. Dollaway.

Marshall Zelaznik, the UFC’s managing director of international development, said at the UFC Fight Night 56 post-fight press conference in Uberlandia, Brazil, on Nov. 8 that the promotion is planning on doing two UFC shows in Sao Paulo in 2015, including a soccer stadium event.

“We have been waiting for the Palmeiras Arena, the Allianz (Parque) arena, to be open for a long time,” Zelaznik said. “I know they have an opening event, some football match, so it’s on our list, for sure. We’re hoping maybe getting two events in Sao Paulo next year.”

Allianz Parque, a 43,600-seat soccer stadium in Sao Paulo, will host its first official event on Nov. 19 in a soccer match between Palmeiras, which owns the stadium, and Sport. The stadium could possibly draw 55,000 fans in attendance for a UFC card.

The UFC will make seven trips to Brazil in 2015, and the first one will be right after Carnival.

The UFC will be announcing its complete 2015 schedule at a special event on Nov. 17 in Las Vegas, but MMAFighting.com learned with sources close to the situation, that UFC’s first Fight Night card in Brazil next year is scheduled for Feb. 22.

Location and venue are still yet to be defined, sources said, but Jaragua do Sul is a possibility.

The promotion has held a pair of Fight Night cards at Arena Jaragua, drawing an announced attendance of 7,642 and 7,511 for Vitor Belfort vs. Luke Rockhold in 2013 and Lyoto Machida vs. Gegard Mousasi in 2014, respectively.

The next UFC card scheduled for Brazil is on Dec. 20, 2014, with Machida headlining UFC Fight Night 58 against C.B. Dollaway.

Marshall Zelaznik, the UFC’s managing director of international development, said at the UFC Fight Night 56 post-fight press conference in Uberlandia, Brazil, on Nov. 8 that the promotion is planning on doing two UFC shows in Sao Paulo in 2015, including a soccer stadium event.

“We have been waiting for the Palmeiras Arena, the Allianz (Parque) arena, to be open for a long time,” Zelaznik said. “I know they have an opening event, some football match, so it’s on our list, for sure. We’re hoping maybe getting two events in Sao Paulo next year.”

Allianz Parque, a 43,600-seat soccer stadium in Sao Paulo, will host its first official event on Nov. 19 in a soccer match between Palmeiras, which owns the stadium, and Sport. The stadium could possibly draw 55,000 fans in attendance for a UFC card.