Report: UFC could return to Montreal on Dec. 5 (UPDATED)
Bryan Alvarez of Figure 4 Online reported during the site’s daily update on Tuesday that the UFC appears likely to return to Montreal at the Bell Centre on Dec. 5 with current UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre a possible headliner.
Alvarez adds that the site will have more news on the situation tomorrow, as the recent news has not yet been made official by the UFC.
St. Pierre has stated in recent radio interviews that he does not intend to return until early-2009 after fighting frequently the past 12 months. However, if UFC officials want to do a card in Montreal in early December and they want St. Pierre on it, they could try to convince him to take a fight on that date.
The news of a possible Dec. 5 is intriguing, as the UFC has shows planned for November and on Dec. 27.
UFC officials have been rumored to be working on a possible main event involving Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva for a Nov. show that could take place in Portland, Ore. It should be noted that the availability for both fighters is still uncertain. Jackson has legal issues that must be addressed with and Silva specifically requested that the UFC not schedule him for a fight before December.
Nothing has been announced officially for the Dec. 27 show, which tentatively planned to take place in Las Vegas. However, it is expected that UFC interim heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira will take on Frank Mir. Chuck Liddell could also be in action if he’s able to defeat Rashad Evans next month and does so without sustaining a serious injury. It’s unclear whether Liddell would fight UFC heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin or if he would be matched up against current UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva.
Update: The report has been removed from the website and no retraction has been issued. BloodyElbow.com states that it contacted Dave Meltzer, who indicated their reporting was based on a local report in Montreal and that they were unable to confirm it.
Sam Caplan is the President of Combat Sports Media, LLC, the parent company of FiveOuncesOfPain.com. CSM is a B-2-B outsource solution in the MMA industry and provides PR, web management, and other consulting services to MMA companies. Clients of CSM include the Combat Sports Championships and Showtime.
| All posts by Sam Caplan
I was at a party this weekend in Memphis with Rampage and his brother told me he was getting Wandy aswell.
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I doubt the UFC is coming to montreal on december 5th which is a friday night by the way. The Montreal Canadiens play at the Bell centre on the 4th and 6th. The UFC won’t be coming back to montreal untill at least sometime in early 09.
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If its going to happen in montreal then st pierre will take the fight.
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I really hope the UFC is able to lock that date down.
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A Friday?….
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I hope not. They need to keep down on the PPV events to keep the market buying.
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A friday…that would be interesting. Has the UFC ever thrown a Friday event before?
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Anderson Silva is fighting again so soon after his Oct 25 bout with Cote? That sounds like too short a training camp to rest and then prepare for Liddell.
BJ-GSP on a Friday at Montreal? I guess there goes my Vegas plans trip for Dec 27.
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Nothing adds up as far as main events go. Silva-Jackson would be great but it’s hard to say with Jackson in legal troubles and GSP has said he doesn’t want to fight again until ’09 which would make sense for the UFC. Superbowl weekend GSP-Penn is probably going to happen. So all the big names are taken.
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Guys I highly doubt this will come to fruition. The UFC may want to do a show on December 5th but as it stands now, that is a Friday and TKO Championship Fighting currently has the venue booked out for the date.
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I think that booking shows this close together is an indacator that they may have a network TV deal. That starts this fall? What do you guys think?
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It sounds like pure speculation but its got me excited – the first event in Montreal was a blast! The UFC may need quite a few stars to align for the show to happen in Montreal though =/
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Somebody beat me to it…but, yes, TKO already has an event planned for Friday Dec 5.
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Although TKO boss Patry and Dana are close (TKO is allowed to use the Octagon) so maybe a deal could be worked out there.
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