After a pair of successful trips north of the border, the Ultimate Fighting Championship will return to Canada for two more events at UFC 113 and 115. The latter card is being targeted for General Motors Place in Vancouver, British Columbia on June 12th. Potential fights for the debut Vancouver card have not yet been announced.
The promotion enjoyed great success with a pair of sold out events at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Québec in April of 2008 and 2009 and UFC President Dana White has spoken highly of Canada’s love for MMA.
The Bell Centre played host to UFC 83 on April 19, 2008 and UFC 97 just shy of one year later and both events sold out almost immediately. The UFC will return to Montreal for UFC 113 on May 1st, which is expected to be headlined by a UFC Light Heavyweight Championship rematch between Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson is rumoured to be facing “Sugar” Rashad Evans on the same card.
Just six weeks later, the promotion will return to Canada for its first show in Vancouver, British Columbia. The event will take place at General Motors Place, which seats roughly 19,000 people. No fights have been announced for the proposed event, but local talent training at the Revolution Fight Club or ZUMA Martial Arts may claim spots on the undercard.
The event’s announcement comes on the heels of a December 17th passing of legislation that once again legalised mixed martial arts in the city. The sport was banned in September of 2007 due to an alleged liability in the case of serious injury or crowd violence. Since that time, a pair of amateur cards were allowed to take place in the city and both were described as a big success.
UFC 115 is set for June 12th at GM Place in Vancouver, B.C.