UFC planning big things for Canadian debut

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  1. speeds

    speeds $2.50 highball, $1.50 beer Staff Member Administrator GFX Team

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    http://www.sportsnet.ca/mma/2008/01/31/ufc_canada/

    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>UFC president: Montreal will set record
    Thursday, January 31, 2008
    THE CANADIAN PRESS

    LAS VEGAS -- The UFC's Canadian debut April 19 in Montreal will be the UFC's biggest ever, UFC president Dana White predicted Thursday.

    "It's going to be crazy. Twenty-two thousand, we're going to sell it out," White told The Canadian Press after a news conference for Saturday's UFC 81 show at the Mandalay Bay. "We're going to sell out the Bell Centre."

    The UFC's current attendance record of 19,049 was set at UFC 68 on March 3, 2007, at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio -- a show that produced the biggest crowd ever for a mixed martial arts event in North America. The gate of US3 million-plus was also tops for the Columbus arena, erasing the previous record held by the Rolling Stones.

    "Canada will be the (attendance) record. Canada will be the biggest UFC event ever," said White.

    Tickets for UFC 83: Serra vs. St. Pierre 2 in Montreal have yet to go on sale, although members of the UFC's fan Fight Club can take part in a pre-sale starting Sunday. More ticket information is expected Monday when White and headline fighters Georges St. Pierre and Matt Serra hold a news conference in Montreal.

    Serra upset St. Pierre at UFC 69 in April in Houston to win the 170-pound title. But when Serra injured his back and had to withdraw from a scheduled bout with Matt Hughes at UFC 79 in December, St. Pierre stepped in and beat Hughes to claim the interim title. Serra and St. Pierre will now decide the championship for real in Montreal, St. Pierre's home town.

    White says the early word on Canadian ticket sales is very bright, saying the organization is getting bombarded with inquiries asking not when tickets go on sale, but how many can people buy.

    "We've been dying to go there. Now that we're going, I think the fans are going to be insane up there. I think it's going to be great, I'm excited," he said.

    The Montreal card also features former middleweight champion Rich Franklin against Travis Lutter, White confirmed.

    Middleweight Jason (The Athlete) MacDonald has confirmed he is taking on Winnipeg's Joe Doerksen on the undercard while other reports have Toronto lightweight Marc Bocek facing Mac Danzig, lightweight Sam Stout of London, Ont., facing Rich Clementi, middleweight Kalib Starnes of Surrey, B.C., fighting Nate Quarry and welterweight Jonathan Goulet of Victoriaville, Que., tackling Kuniyoshi Hironaka.

    "When you're going to have that many eyeballs and that much focus on an event, we want to make the Canadians stars in Canada," White said.

    Despite the Canadian fan interest, the UFC president believes Canadian sponsors have a way to go to appreciate a fighter like St. Pierre.

    "That kid is such a home run for sponsors, man," he said. "You've got a kid from Canada that's as good-looking, athletic and fights like this kid fights and he's not the darling of Canada. It's beyond me. I don't get it."

    Light-heavyweight Mauricio (Shogun) Rua is also rumoured to be on the Montreal card.*</div>

    * Note: Rua, unfortunately, will not be competing on this card.
     
    speeds, Feb 1, 2008
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  2. speeds

    speeds $2.50 highball, $1.50 beer Staff Member Administrator GFX Team

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    Just when the UFC had disappointed Canadian fans by pulling Shogun off the card, they redeem themselves by putting the Michael Bisping/Charles McCarthy bout on the card.
     
    speeds, Feb 1, 2008
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  3. speeds

    speeds $2.50 highball, $1.50 beer Staff Member Administrator GFX Team

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    Tickets for the event went on sale to Insiders and over 13,000 were sold. Looks like the event will be sold out within hours of making the tickets available to the public. 22,000+ fans would make it the biggest MMA event in North America ever.

    Dana White announced that Patrick Cote vs. Ed Herman has been added to the card.
     
    speeds, Feb 4, 2008
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  4. Celtic Fan

    Celtic Fan Well-Known Member

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    man I hope Cote puts Ed out of the UFC.
     
    Celtic Fan, Feb 4, 2008
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  5. speeds

    speeds $2.50 highball, $1.50 beer Staff Member Administrator GFX Team

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Celtic Fan @ Feb 4 2008, 10:58 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>man I hope Cote puts Ed out of the UFC.</div>

    Looks like the Ed Herman rumour might've been false. It is more likely he faces Alan Belcher (12-4) or Johnny Rees (8-0).
     
    speeds, Feb 4, 2008
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  6. Celtic Fan

    Celtic Fan Well-Known Member

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    Belcher will be a tough fight.
    don't know anything about Rees

    either way I think Cote will have huge confidence fighting in Montreal.
     
    Celtic Fan, Feb 5, 2008
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  7. speeds

    speeds $2.50 highball, $1.50 beer Staff Member Administrator GFX Team

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    Rumours have Ed Herman facing BJJ stud Demian Maia on this card, which would be a stellar ground war.
     
    speeds, Feb 6, 2008
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  8. speeds

    speeds $2.50 highball, $1.50 beer Staff Member Administrator GFX Team

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    Patrick Cote's opponent will be Alan Belcher. Very tough fight for Cote. Good test for him. If Cote wins, he'll probably be set up with a fight against Okami/Franklin/Marquardt and then we'll see if he can get a title shot.
     
    speeds, Feb 7, 2008
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  9. Celtic Fan

    Celtic Fan Well-Known Member

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    WAR Cote!!
     
    Celtic Fan, Feb 7, 2008
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  10. Celtic Fan

    Celtic Fan Well-Known Member

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    dang!!
    source, fiveouncesofpain
    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>“We were still talking [to the UFC] about an opponent when Patrick fell on the ice,” Patry said. “He went for the MRI, and the doctor told him it’s sprained and he can’t train for four to six weeks – so he won’t be available to fight [in April].”

    Despite published reports that Cote (12-4, 3-4 UFC) would face Alan “The Talent” Belcher (12-4, 3-2 UFC) at the UFC’s inaugural Canadian show, Patry said the fight was never signed. He also indicated he would not have approved the bout even if it had been offered, as a victory over Belcher would have done little to further Cote’s place in the UFC’s middleweight division.

    “We were not going to take that fight anyway,” Patry said. “It wouldn’t make sense.”

    I don’t know who Stephane Patry thinks Cote should be fighting but a fight with Belcher made all the sense in the world in the middleweight division. Tough break for the Canadian as I’m sure he was looking forward to fighting on his home turf. Falling on some ice is some seriously ill fated stuff. Get well, Patrick</div>
     
    Celtic Fan, Feb 11, 2008
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  11. speeds

    speeds $2.50 highball, $1.50 beer Staff Member Administrator GFX Team

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    D'Oh! That sucks for Cote.

    Also, Belcher is a good test for Cote. The last time Cote faced a highly-ranked middleweight Lutter submitted him in like three seconds. Franklin, Okami, Marquadt, and Silva would all ruin Cote at this point.
     
    speeds, Feb 11, 2008
    #31
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