The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s first show in British Columbia has sold out in just 30 minutes. UFC 115 tickets were made available to members of the UFC Fight Club, who purchased all available tickets before the public on-sale even began. It was the fastest UFC sell-out to date.

After weeks of speculation and denials from UFC management, the promotion at last confirmed that the event will not be headlined by a third bout between former UFC champions Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz. Liddell will still compete on the card, but he will face Rich Franklin instead.

With the 30-minute sell-out, UFC e-newsletter subscribers and some members of the UFC Fight Club did not receive a chance to purchase tickets during the pre-sale. The previous record for fastest UFC sell-out also took place in Canada, at UFC 83 in Montreal. There, tickets sold out within one minute of the beginning of the public on-sale, which followed the UFC Fight Club pre-sale. Those wishing to purchase tickets for UFC 115 will now be forced to pay increased prices to online ticket resellers.

The confirmation of Franklin vs Liddell was merely a formality. For weeks, media outlets reported that the bout was in the works, while the UFC maintained that Liddell would, in fact, face Ortiz for the third time despite reports that Ortiz was injured and had withdrawn from filming of season eleven of The Ultimate Fighter. Ortiz reportedly suffered the injury during the TUF 11 filming, with Franklin taking his place for the remainder of the season.

Both Franklin (25-5-0, 1 NC) and Liddell (21-7-0) are coming off of knockout losses and both will enter the fight after considerable layoffs. Liddell was rumoured to be retiring, but convinced UFC President Dana White to set up the third bout with Ortiz. Instead, he will now face Franklin, who also needs a convincing win in order to remain relevant in a quickly-changing division. The strikers will square off in the main event of UFC 115, which takes place on June 12th.

(Photo Credit: Sherdog.com)