The UFC has decided to scrap their plans to host UFC 145 in Montreal, QC, Canada. Tom Wright, UFC Canadian Director of Operations, confirmed the event’s cancellation and stated that they DO plan on returning to Montreal later this year.
The reason for cancelling the event was attributed to “complications in scheduling” and a “desire to deliver a ‘championship card’”.
There were eight fights lined up for UFC 145 in Montreal, however; no headliner had been announced and the event was set to take place in just over 60 days. Clearly, they just couldn’t pull together the main event they wanted to deliver to Montreal fans.
The UFC is extremely popular in many areas of Canada, with Toronto and Montreal topping the list. Due to Montreal’s hometown favourite Georges St. Pierre’s serious knee injury and the UFC’s desire to host an event there this year; it is highly unlikely that GSP would be ready in time. At this point, only timing will be the determining factor as to whom we will see on the Montreal card.
Regardless of the disappointment that comes with the cancellation of any event, personally I’m happy that the UFC recognizes when they’re stretching to fill a card. I’m pleased that they did not try to pass off a poor bout for the main event. The fact is the fans will not go if the UFC does not deliver a great card.
With Elite Sports Tours I have helped to send thousands of UFC fans all across Canada. I know what the hype surrounding an event typically feels like and personally I think Canadians were not very excited about the card that was lined up. As much as we love watching Canadian talent fight in Canada, we want them to switch things up and give us some exciting match-ups. I’ve seen the same guys fight SEVERAL times since the first UFC 83 event hosted in Canada in April 2008.
With all of this said, who would you like to see fight when they bring the card back to Montreal? Tell me what you think about the UFC cancelling this event and let me know who you want to see fight next! You can tweet at me on Twitter @EliteGirlJen