With its first two Fan Expo events in Las Vegas big successes, and its first East Coast fan event in Boston in the books, the UFC holds its first international Fan Expo this weekend in conjunction with UFC 120 in London.
On Tuesday, the promotion's Director of Canadian Operations, Tom Wright, said 2011 could see a Fan Expo in Canada – likely in Toronto when the UFC holds its first event there.
"I think if we bring a Fan Expo to Canada, most likely it would come to Ontario," Wright said at a press conference for December's UFC 124 event in Montreal.
Wright said the UFC plans to do three pay-per-view events annually in Canada. In 2010, Montreal played host to UFC 113 in May and will host UFC 124 in December. Vancouver was home to UFC 115 in June. After the province of Ontario passed legislation to sanction MMA in August, the doors were opened for Toronto, the country's largest city.
Wright said talks for another event in Vancouver are underway, as well as the preliminary discussions about Toronto.
"Last week, we met in Vancouver to bring our second fight there," Wright said. "We've already had conversations about bringing our first event to Toronto, and that's where we would probably hold a Fan Expo."
Though no date has been set, Wright said a Toronto card likely wouldn't happen until at least halfway through 2011. Previous reports have said the promotion is hoping to hold its first Toronto event at the Rogers Centre (formerly the SkyDome), the home of the Toronto Blue Jays. In 2002, the WWE's Wrestlemania 18 drew more than 68,000 fans to the stadium.
"We haven't set a time line (for a Toronto event)," Wright said. "On Aug. 14, the Ontario government sanctioned mixed martial arts in Ontario and the regulatory process has just started. We hope to have it completed by the end of the year, and we've already started to have discussions about a venue in Toronto. Most likely, we're looking at the first UFC event in Toronto sometime midyear. The date hasn't been selected yet because we haven't completed the regulatory process. But it's going to be a big event."
On Tuesday, the promotion's Director of Canadian Operations, Tom Wright, said 2011 could see a Fan Expo in Canada – likely in Toronto when the UFC holds its first event there.
"I think if we bring a Fan Expo to Canada, most likely it would come to Ontario," Wright said at a press conference for December's UFC 124 event in Montreal.
Wright said the UFC plans to do three pay-per-view events annually in Canada. In 2010, Montreal played host to UFC 113 in May and will host UFC 124 in December. Vancouver was home to UFC 115 in June. After the province of Ontario passed legislation to sanction MMA in August, the doors were opened for Toronto, the country's largest city.
Wright said talks for another event in Vancouver are underway, as well as the preliminary discussions about Toronto.
"Last week, we met in Vancouver to bring our second fight there," Wright said. "We've already had conversations about bringing our first event to Toronto, and that's where we would probably hold a Fan Expo."
Though no date has been set, Wright said a Toronto card likely wouldn't happen until at least halfway through 2011. Previous reports have said the promotion is hoping to hold its first Toronto event at the Rogers Centre (formerly the SkyDome), the home of the Toronto Blue Jays. In 2002, the WWE's Wrestlemania 18 drew more than 68,000 fans to the stadium.
"We haven't set a time line (for a Toronto event)," Wright said. "On Aug. 14, the Ontario government sanctioned mixed martial arts in Ontario and the regulatory process has just started. We hope to have it completed by the end of the year, and we've already started to have discussions about a venue in Toronto. Most likely, we're looking at the first UFC event in Toronto sometime midyear. The date hasn't been selected yet because we haven't completed the regulatory process. But it's going to be a big event."
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