Tag: josealdo

Dana White ‘Blown Away’ by Response to UFC 129 in Toronto

Filed under: UFC, NewsUFC president Dana White said Tuesday he was “blown away” by fan response to the promotion’s April show in Toronto.

UFC 129, scheduled for April 30 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, reportedly sold 42,000 tickets from its UFC Fig…

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Dana WhiteUFC president Dana White said Tuesday he was “blown away” by fan response to the promotion’s April show in Toronto.

UFC 129, scheduled for April 30 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, reportedly sold 42,000 tickets from its UFC Fight Club and newsletter presales alone last week – which led the UFC and Rogers Centre officials to reconfigure the seating setup to add more tickets for Saturday’s public on-sale.

Within minutes, the additional ticket allotment was gone, and the UFC had a new personal best – and North American record – 55,000 tickets sold with a record $11 million gate. White said the company took a risk putting that many tickets on sale for its first stadium show – but was banking on previous successes in Canada, in Montreal and Vancouver.

Josh Grispi, George Roop Booked for TUF 13 Finale

Filed under: UFC, NewsA featherweight fight between former top contender Josh Grispi and George Roop has been slotted for The UFC’s Season 13 finale of “The Ultimate Fighter.”

Sources close to the bout confirmed the booking with MMA Fighting on Monda…

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A featherweight fight between former top contender Josh Grispi and George RoopJosh Grispi will fight in the TUF 13 finale. has been slotted for The UFC’s Season 13 finale of “The Ultimate Fighter.”

Sources close to the bout confirmed the booking with MMA Fighting on Monday. MMA Mania first reported the matchup on Sunday.

Grispi (14-2, 0-1 UFC) had been in line for a featherweight title shot against champion Jose Aldo at UFC 125 last month. But when Aldo had to pull out with an injury, Grispi instead took a fight with Dustin Poirier to stay busy.

Jose Aldo vs. Josh Grispi Likely for UFC 125

Filed under: UFC, NewsWEC featherweight champion Jose Aldo will likely defend his title at UFC 125 on Jan. 1 against Josh Grispi – the first title defense of a WEC champ under the UFC banner.

Versus.com was first to report news of the Aldo-Grispi bout…

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Jose AldoWEC featherweight champion Jose Aldo will likely defend his title at UFC 125 on Jan. 1 against Josh Grispi – the first title defense of a WEC champ under the UFC banner.

Versus.com was first to report news of the Aldo-Grispi bout, and sources with knowledge of the proposed matchup told MMA Fighting that was the planned direction for Aldo’s next defense. The fight would be the co-main event of the New Year’s Day card behind a lightweight title fight between UFC champion Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard.

WEC 51 Weigh-In Results

Filed under: WEC, NewsBROOMFIELD, Colo. – All fighters successfully made weight for their WEC 51 bouts at the official weigh-in event at the 1stBank Center on Wednesday.

Main-event featherweights Jose Aldo and Manny Gamburyan each tipped the scale at…

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BROOMFIELD, Colo. – All fighters successfully made weight for their WEC 51 bouts at the official weigh-in event at the 1stBank Center on Wednesday.

Main-event featherweights Jose Aldo and Manny Gamburyan each tipped the scale at 145 pounds for their featherweight title fight. It will be Aldo’s second defense of the belt since taking it from Mike Brown at WEC 44 last November. At WEC 48 in April, he defeated former champ Urijah Faber by unanimous decision.

Gamburyan, a finalist on Season 5 of “The Ultimate Fighter” who dropped down to featherweight from his lightweight days in the UFC, said his experience is his edge in the title fight.

“I trained really hard and I’ve been in some big fights,” Gamburyan told Craig Hummer. “My win over Mike Brown gave me (confidence) … and I’m ready to take that belt.”

WEC Announces Signing of Chinese Lightweight Tiequan Zhang

Filed under: WEC, NewsIt didn’t take long for Zuffa to puts its official stamp on mixed martial arts in Asia.

Following UFC 118, UFC president Dana White announced the company had set up an office in Beijing, China, and hired Mark Fischer, formerly o…

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It didn’t take long for Zuffa to puts its official stamp on mixed martial arts in Asia.

Following UFC 118, UFC president Dana White announced the company had set up an office in Beijing, China, and hired Mark Fischer, formerly of the NBA’s China branch, to run its operations in Asia as executive vice president and managing director.

On Thursday, the WEC, the UFC’s sibling promotion, officially announced the signing of lightweight Tiequan Zhang, of Beijing. Zhang will be the first fighter from mainland China in the WEC’s history. His first task comes later this month against Alex Karalexis at WEC 51 in Broomfield, Colo.