UFC to Host Unprecedented Five Canadian Events in 2014
Toronto, Ontario – Canada is set to host an unprecedented five live events in 2014 as the Ultimate Fighting Championship® today unveiled its plans for the Great White North. The UFC® will make its first-ever visits to Quebec City and Halifax while also returning to Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal. The organization also announced it will bring UFC Experience to four smaller communities across the country this year in conjunction with its UFC Community Works program. In all, the UFC will visit six of 10 Canadian provinces in 2014.
"Last year was a banner year for the UFC but Canada is set to break new ground in 2014 as we're literally going from coast to coast with events stretching between Nova Scotia and British Columbia," said Tom Wright, UFC Managing Director, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. "After hosting 14 events through our first six years since coming to Canada, we're excited to bring our fans five live UFC events north of the border in 2014."
The UFC makes its first Canadian stop on April 16 when Quebec City and Colisée Pepsi play host to the live finale of The Ultimate Fighter Nations: Canada vs. Australia presented by Xbox One. The event will be the culmination of the 12-episode reality series that airs Wednesday's on Sportsnet 360 and TVA Sports. The event will crown both a welterweight (170lbs) and middleweight (185lbs) series winner as eight Canadians and eight Australians went head-to-head in the fifth international edition of the show, which was filmed just north of Montreal. Both series coaches will enter the Octagon® as Rimouski, Quebec's Patrick Côté (20-8) faces Kyle Noke (20-6-1), a native of Dubbo, New South Wales, Australia.
In addition, the UFC also confirmed two other Quebec City bouts as Sudbury, Ontario's Mitch Gagnon (10-2) squares off against bantamweight Tim Gorman (8-2, fighting out of Des Moines, Iowa), while London, Ontario's Sam Stout (21-9-1) faces lightweight KJ Noons (11-6, fighting out of San Diego, California). Tickets for The Ultimate Fighter Nations Finale go on sale to the general public on Friday, February 28 at 10 a.m. through billetech.com. UFC® Fight Club™ members will have early access to tickets on Wednesday, February 26 at 10 a.m. EST via the website ufcfightclub.com. A special Internet ticket pre-sale will also be available to UFC newsletter subscribers on Thursday, February 27, starting at 10 a.m. EST. Tickets prices and fight card updates will be provided in the coming weeks.
Continuing along its 2014 calendar, and following a three-year hiatus, the UFC will return to Vancouver's Rogers Arena with a June 14 Pay-Per-View event. The visit will mark the organization's third stop in Vancouver, as the city also hosted UFC 131 in 2011 and UFC 115 in 2010. The event will then be followed up by a September 27 PPV at Toronto's Air Canada Centre – the city's fifth all-time visit.
The UFC will round out the year with its first trip to Atlantic Canada when UFC Fight Night hits the Halifax Metro Centre on Saturday, October 4, and a return to Montreal on Saturday, December 6 with a Pay-Per-View event at the Bell Centre. More information on all events, including bouts, ticket on-sale dates and pricing will be announced at a later date.
The following is a look at the UFC's 2014 Canadian live event schedule:
- April 16 – Quebec City – The Ultimate Fighter® Nations Finale, Colisée Pepsi
- June 14 – Vancouver – UFC® 174, RogersArena
- September 27 – Toronto – UFC® 178, Air Canada Centre
- October 4 – Halifax – UFC Fight Night, Halifax Metro Centre
- December 6 – Montreal - UFC® 181, Bell Centre
Also, in conjunction with its UFC Community Works program, the UFC will visit four Canadian cities in 2014 to host UFC Experience, which are interactive fan events highlighted by exclusive viewing parties of global Pay-Per-Views. Locations are still being finalized but the events will fall between May and August and will see the UFC visit smaller communities in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Saskatchewan.
Since 2008, the UFC has hosted 14 events in Canada with each experiencing tremendous success. Collectively, the 14 events have seen almost 300,000 fans in attendance and millions worldwide watching on Pay-Per-View. The five host cities to date – Calgary, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver and Winnipeg – have had a cumulative gross gate of close to $60M and millions more in economic impact. UFC events have set single-day event gate records in four Canadian venues: Calgary's Scotiabank Saddledome (UFC 149), Montreal's Bell Centre (UFC 124), Toronto's Rogers Centre (UFC 129) and Winnipeg's MTS Centre (UFC 161).
