Another UFC event in Canada has sold out in near-record time.
All remaining tickets for UFC 149, the mixed martial arts organization's first trip to Calgary set for July 21, were snapped up in minutes Saturday morning. UFC officials said attendance for the show, which will take place at the Scotiabank Saddledome, will be over 18,000.
A UFC Fight Club member pre-sale took place Thursday and within an hour, all but single tickets were gone. More seats were up for grabs on Friday for UFC newsletter subscribers, leaving just a few for the public sale on Saturday, and as expected demand was more than high enough for the hottest ticket in Cotown.
The pay-per-view event, which is headlined by the featherweight title fight between champion Jose Aldo and Erik Koch, will take place one week after the conclusion of the world-famous Calgary Stampede on the same grounds. It is the first of three UFC events taking place in Canada in 2012 as Toronto (Sept. 22, location to be determined) and Montreal (Nov. 17, Bell Centre) are also set with UFC dates this calendar year.
Canada has already hosted eight UFC events since 2008. Its three host cities to date -- Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver -- have welcomed more than 185,000 fans in attendance and have had a cumulative gross gate of more than $40 million. Montreal has held four events (UFC 83, 97, 113 and 124) while Toronto (UFC 129 and 140) and Vancouver (UFC 115 and 131) have each played host twice.
The first-ever event in Canada, UFC 83 at the Bell Cetnre in April 2008, first set the record for fastest sellout -- within one minute of tickets being made available to the public -- and it was matched by the first show in Vancouver, UFC 115 at Rogers Arena in 2010. Meanwhile, last year's UFC 129 at the Rogers Centre -- the organization's first-ever stadium show -- saw 42,000 tickets sold the first day; the UFC then opened up more seats for sale, increasing the record size to a final total attendance of 55,724.
Earlier this year, the UFC also committed to host three major events in Canada each of next three years (through to 2014). While not in an official statement, UFC president Dana White said at the press conference in Calgary to first announce that commitment that the UFC would return to the Alberta city next year. This week's quick sell-out certainly bodes well for that to be the case.
The card also features two ex-UFC belt-holders as former light-heavyweight champion Mauricio (Shogun) Rua faces off against Thiago Silva, while former interim heavyweight title-holder Antonio Rodrigo (Minotauro) Nogueira returns to action to face Cheick Kongo. A bout between middleweight title contenders will also be on the main card with Michael Bisping facing Tim Boetsch.
Not surprisingly, five Canadians are already confirmed for the card, including a couple local ones. Calgary's Nick Ring battles Court McGee and Edmonton's Mitch Clarke faces Anton Kuivanen, while Sudbury, Ont.'s Mitch Gagnon takes on Bryan Caraway, Ajax, Ont.'s Antonio Carvalho challenges George Roop, and Saint John, N.B., native Ryan Jimmo, who trains in Edmonton, meets Anthony Perosh.
It is also expected that Red Deer, Alta.'s Jason (The Athlete) MacDonald will be added to the card, should he emerge from his fight this Tuesday against Tom Lawlor at a UFC show in Fairfax, Va., without any major injuries.
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